31 Process
31.3 contains infinite stories. An ongoing production of polygonal and diamond-shaped glass elements arrives to Bocci’s Vancouver studio from the Czech Republic in ebbs and flows. 31.3 consists of these glass elements distributed into groupings of 31, 18, or 8. These groups arrange into tile-like compositions.
Many of 31.3’s rich hues are unavailable outside the Czech region, where ancient and secret colour formulas have passed between generations of glass masters since the 1600s.
Against the reality of contemporary glassmaking’s limited catalogue of commercially available hues, 31.3 celebrates the experimental alchemy that has informed the tradition from its beginnings. 31.3’s tints employ peculiar ingredients, from bone ash and horse feces to plants and minerals found only in the Czech countryside.
31.3 also pulls from the randomness inherent to certain geometric tiling. In the 1970s, mathematician Roger Penrose discovered that an asymmetrical, non-repeating tile pattern can be achieved with just two shapes. 31.3’s polygonal (five-sided) forms are blown hollow and delicate, and the diamond (four-sided) objects are solid pieces.
Upon the elements’ arrival from the Czech masters, Bocci randomly distributes them into groupings. No two sets of 31.3 are alike.
Conceived in 2017. Launched in 2017.
