and c a re fu lly c o n tro lle d to in still a sen se
o f fr o z e n m o v e m e n t re se m b lin g fea th e re d
w in g s o r cascad in g rip p les.
S ix o f th e scu lp tu res are ve rtic a l to w e rs
up to th re e fe e t tall, w ith eith er a squarish
p ro file , as in
H idden M ountain,
o r a m o re
sle n d e r o u tlin e , as in
Castaw ay D ivid e,
and
h a v e a d o m in a n t tra n slu c e n t h u e ran g in g
fro m lig h t y e llo w -g r e e n to a d e e p a zu re .
T h e ty p ica l cross sectio n is an iso scele s tra -
p eziu m (w id e , flat b a ck p an el; flat angled
sid es; and a n a rro w fro n t e d g e) w ith a v is -
ib le cen tra l co re co m p risin g cle a r o r c o l-
o red fu se d glass p an els th at p ro d u ce a sh eer
ed g e b e tw e e n th e b lo ck s o f glass. S o m e are
sim p le and sp are, su ch as th e sin gle ed ge
th at appears o p tica lly fro ze n in th e c e n te r
o f
Ocean Tower;
o th e rs h a v e m u ltip le v e r -
tical p lan es, lik e
Castaway D ivide.
B ern ste in
e n liv e n s th e h igh d e g re e o f fit-an d -fin ish
p e rfe c tio n b y te asin g o u t an o rg a n ic r e fe r -
e n ce , seen in th e sw arm o f clear tin y b u bb les
Top:
Cog, 2010,
hot-worked glass,
metal base,
19% x 13 X 6 in.
Left:
Gold Lilt,
2010,
cast and cut glass,
fused steel,
36x12x4m .
Right:
Ocean Tower,
2010,
cast and cut glass,
33 x 6 x 3 in.
th a t seem sta tic a lly c h arg e d and c lin g to
th o se in tern al visu al planes.
T h e m asculine industrial saw -blade cuts
are th e m ost im p re ssiv e e le m e n t o f each
p ie ce . L ite r a lly e d g y , th e ra w g rin d m arks
and abrasions p o w e rfu lly su ggest a range o f
n atu ral and m e tap h o rica l fo rm s and fo rc e s ,
fro m th e w in g s o f an angel to th e cre vasses
o f a g la c ie r. B e rn s te in , w h o r e c e iv e d his
MFA from th e R o ch e ster In stitu te o f T e c h -
n o lo g y , applies an u n d erstan d in g o f th e in-
dustrial n ature o f his ch osen m aterial and the
to o ls th at h e uses.
A sm aller set o f w o r k s ex em p lifie s this
sy n th e sis. T h e L ilt p ie ce s are m o re o rg a n ic
and fig u ra l, less stru ctu ra l and g e o m e tric
than th e to w e rs . T h e y ta k e on th e classic
scu lptu ral ch allen ge o f asp irin g to soar, and
th e y d o. T h e glass sh ap es in
E lectric Blue
L ilt
o r
G old L ilt
resem b le b la d e s, le a v e s o r
fan s and are m o u n ted in a fu se d p o w d e r
m etal b ase th at is u n ifie d w ith th e o v e ra ll
c u rv in g o r tw is tin g sh ap e o f each p ie ce .
T h e sa w cu ts are p e rv a s iv e o v e r th e en tire
glass s u rfa c e , re n d e rin g th e fo rm alm o st
o p aq u e, w ith o n ly th e ed ges a llo w in g ligh t
to pass th ro u g h . T h e y g lo w , b u t in a so ft,
d iffu se w a y th at stan ds in c o n tra st to th e
p o lish ed su rfaces in th e to w e r-lik e w o rk s .
T h e glass o b je c ts in th e w a ll-m o u n te d
a sse m b lag e s, su ch as
Cog,
are m ean t to
b e seen th rou gh as w e ll as seen w ith in . B y
m o u n tin g th e glo b u la r o r cylin d rical o b je ct
in fro n t o f a m etal p la te, B ern ste in avo id s
e x te rn al visu al d istractio n s, thus h ig h lig h t-
in g th e e x q u isite in te rp la y b e tw e e n th e
g e ar-lik e p a ttern s o f cu ts th at are in tern a lly
in v e r te d as a re fle c tio n in th e g la ss. T h e
p ro b lem to this v ie w e r is th at b o th th e m et-
al plate and th e glass are c o n triv e d to su s-
p e n d th e e ffe c t o f w e ig h t and g r a v ity to
a ch ie ve th e d esired visu al resu lt. It m igh t
h a ve b een m o re su cce ssfu l i f th e p late w e re
th e p la tfo rm on w h ic h th e o b je c t re ste d
lig h tly and w e r e v ie w e d fro m slig h tly
a b o v e , le n d in g a B ra n c u si-lik e in tim a c y
to th is in d u strial ju x ta p o s itio n .
T h e th ree g ro u p in g s o f w o r k - a ll fro m
2 0 10 -a re c o n c u rre n t, an in d ica tio n th at
B e rn ste in has d e v e lo p e d a d iffe re n t p r o -
gram o f fo rm , c o lo r and e ffe c t fo r each set.
It also in d icates a w illin g n e ss to e x p lo re
and le t th e m a terial and p ro c e ss lead th e
w a y to w a rd an e v o lv in g and su cce ssfu l
scu lp tu ral re so lu tio n . +
R on Glowen is an art w riter and historian
based in Seattle.
oct/novio american craft 035
