I recently found this piece on Pinterest (courtesy of the McKenzie Cannabis Club in Eugene, Oregon), the Snic Barnes Free Radical bong. I’m no expert on Snic Barnes or his style & process, but I was immediately struck by the functional glass and electroforming elements, which bring forth some pretty cool steampunk stoner functional art.
The Snic Barnes Free Radical Bong
“Snic Barnes is a glass artist and mixed media pipe maker. His body of work is influenced by technology, the Industrial Revolution, and urban decay.” (source) Snic has a huge online portfolio, which I highly suggest you peruse… while high. There are many functional pieces and there are also the pieces that are pure glass art. This guy has quite the imagination, and it doesn’t hurt that he’s another east-coaster (from the city of brotherly love… Philly) relocated to the island in Texas: Austin.
About Snic Barnes
Rather than me trying to add color about the artist, I’m just going to pull the bio from his site:
Snic Barnes is a glass artist and mixed media pipe maker. His body of work is influenced by technology, the Industrial Revolution, and urban decay. In addition, Snic’s many years of studying survival techniques, awareness, and tracking in the wilderness created a palpable struggle between nature and his hometown, Philadelphia, which has been a strong influence in his work.
Snic discovered glassblowing in 1997 at The Crefeld School in Philadelphia PA. Two of his art teachers, Aaron Wiener and Greg Nangle, encouraged him to pursue glassblowing and lampworking. At the age of 17, he helped build a new glass studio and hot shop for the school. Snic attended The Appalachian Center for Crafts in Tennessee where he studied hot glass under Curtis Brock and was introduced to Michael Glancy’s work of electroplated metal. This would be a major inspiration to his electroforming technique. He left Tennessee to build his first of many studios in Philadelphia while taking workshops at The Corning Museum of Glass in New York. He then attended The Tom Brown Jr’s Tracker School in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey. This experience would ignite a lifelong journey in self-awareness, survival skills, and tracking for the next 11 years that significantly impacted his career as an artist.
At the age of 22, Snic moved to Vermont to continue evolving his expertise and set up a new studio. It would be a self-imposed exile from the city to have time to focus on nature, awareness, and his art. Two years later, he stopped blowing glass and moved to Montana to attend The Past Skills Wilderness School to do an in depth study of wilderness skills and tracking. After a year away from the city, the desire to return to glass could not be ignored. He began traveling the country working in various studios and meeting many talented glass artists. He chose to stay in Philadelphia where his close friends encouraged and taught him the skill of electroplating metal, which he would renovate for 4 years in pursuit of perfecting his craft.
Snic Barnes has worked with glass and bronze casting with artist and former teacher, Greg Nangle at Outcast studios. He has worked and taught at Philadelphia Glassworks Studio, has taught lampworking at Lunar cycle in Japan, and has demonstrated at The Borosilicate Art Expo in Tokyo. Snic Barnes has been featured in Contemporary Lampworking Vol II, Smoked Vol I, and Smoked Vol II. Snic has shown his work in SOFA New York, SOFA Chicago, in solo shows at Easy Street Brooklyn, Silica Gallery, as well as group shows and events all over the country. Snic currently lives and works in Austin, Texas.
Check out other posts from Weedist’s Piece of the Week series
Recent Weedist Piece of the Week Posts:
Tags: glass, hand blown glass, Piece of the Week.
By:
Rob Schmidt. Permalink: 
Shortlink: http://weedi.st/fisIY