The visceral and psychological recycling center, GLASSPHEMY! Photo by Carryn M. Golden
Recycling has gotten so damn boring. You separate your so-called “recyclables” in a bin, someone takes them away, and—to your knowledge, anyway—that’s the end of the story.
Guests got to to smash their allocated 6-pack in GLASSPHEMY! Photo by Bryan Perido.
Shards of beer bottles were reused to make lights and other cool stuff.
The idea for a structure that facilitates smashing bottles in a fit of eco-aggression was born at an Infill Philadelphia conference, where the Community Design Collaborative brought together innovative minds to reconsider under-utilized urban spaces. When discussing the problem of a particular lot strewn with broken glass, one woman, Bethany Edwards, suggested a unique solution: Why not just create a place to break glass? Macro-Sea ran with Edward’s idea. Visualization from Vamos Architects helped Macro-Sea develop a structure that would be a safe haven to shatter empty bottles and began constructing the design for GLASSPHEMY! in February 2010.
A model of GLASSPHEMY!
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GLASSPHEMY! renderings by Vamos Architects
Wood frames were constructed in Philadelphia to visualize the height of GLASSPHEMY!
The steel and bulletproof glass version of GLASSPHEMY! was constructed in a private lot in Brooklyn in April 2010. Photo by Bryan Perido.
The chamber ultimately known as GLASSPHEMY! was introduced to friends and family in May 2010. Beer bottles were collected from local Brooklyn bars. Once bottles were broken, glass shards were smoothed in a tumbler, powered by people pedaling on an apparatus designed and constructed by Hecho, Inc.
Hecho Inc. designed a people-powered mixer to smooth broken glass shards. Photo by Bryan Perido.
A month later, Macro-Sea hosted the Fabritory. With support from the Wheaton Arts and Cultural Center, glass artists Kim Harty and Deborah Czeresko set up a mobile studio and repurposed beer bottle shards on site. The artists contacted Macro-Sea after seeing an article about GLASSPHEMY! in the New York Times. “To see any public action involving glass is what really got me interested,” Czeresko says in an interview with ReadyMade magazine. But the idea to involve the glass community with the glass-breaking machine came naturally.
From left to right, glass artists Deborah Czeresko and Kim Harty create pieces from broken glass at the Fabritory. Photo by Bryan Perido.
Guests gathered around and watched the remnants of their catharsis be heated and shaped by glass artists. Photo by Bryan Perido.
Glasses and other artistic pieces were made from beer bottle shards at the Fabritory. Photo by Bryan Perido.
Macro-Sea also teamed up with ReadyMade magazine and developed a contest to determine the most ingenious solution for recycling the smashed bottle remnants. Ideas for what to make with the broken glass poured in from creative people around the globe. More than sixty developed ideas were officially submitted. The winning design, to be unveiled shortly, will be fabricated by Macro-Sea.
The next chapter for GLASSPHEMY!? Road trip. Macro-Sea will disclose the locations soon—so collect your bottles and stay tuned.
Hurl beer bottles, or experience the thrill of one coming at you while safely shielded behind bulletproof glass. Photo by Bryan Perido.
For more information on GLASSPHEMY!, and to see it in action, check out these videos:
GLASSPHEMY from Six Stair on Vimeo.
"Glassphemy!," ReadyMade
"Glassphemy, Creative Recycling," GritTV
"Glassphemy Raw," (one of Macro-Sea's favorite videos)
"Recycling With a Vengeance," The New York Times
PROJECT CREDITS
CONCEPT, DESIGN & DIRECTION:
David Belt, Macro-Sea, Executive Director
DESIGN DEVELOPMENT & PROJECT MANAGEMENT:
Alix Feinkind, Macro-Sea, Creative Director
COLLABORATION & CONSULTING:
Jocko Weyland, Macro-Sea, Aesthetic Consultant & Collaborator
MACHINE FABRICATION & ADDITIONAL DESIGN DEVELOPMENT:
John Wischmann,
Paul Maiello
ADDITIONAL DESIGN & SITE MANAGEMENT:
Daniel Tinneny,
Sr. Daniel Tinneny, Jr.
VISUALIZATION:
Evan Bennett, Vamos Architects, Principal
Silvia Fuster, Vamos Architects, Principal
Kathrine Geismar, Vamos Architects, Designer
Taryn Humphrey, Vamos Architects, Designer
Anders Natt och Dag, Vamos Architects, Designer
Julia With, Vamos Architects, Designer
INTERACTIVE LIGHTING & LIGHTING FABRICATOR:
Jason Krugman
FABRICATION OF CUSTOM ROCK TUMBLER:
Hecho Design and Construction