Michael Schunke at Vetri
Last night, I had the opportunity to see Michael Schunke’s exhibition at Vetri in Seattle. Michael is one of the very best glassblowers and designers. He is truly fully committed to the process, and is an extraordinarily talented goblet maker. I have spent the past 20 years working with glass myself, so I understand how difficult it is to do what he does. The gallery is filled with one-of-a-kind handmade goblets. On two of his installations, he carefully painted quotes on the topics of detachment and trusting the timing of the universe. There are so many parallels between making decisions about objects and planning space as we are organizing our homes and as an artist or craftsman makes what they make.
“In order to be able to make it, you have to put aside the fear of failing and the desire of succeeding. You have to do these things completely, without fear, without desire. Because things that we do without lust of result are the purest of actions we shall ever take.” -Alan Moore
“Detach from needing to have things work out a certain way. The universe is perfect and there are no failures. Give yourself the gift of detaching from your worries and trust that everything is happening perfectly.” -Orin
After the show, I got to talk to Michael about how he thinks about the meaning behind the quotes. He told me that the very best glass he’s seen his students make is when they knew they couldn’t keep any of it. (A quick note on glassblowing- when a piece is finished, it must be cooled slowly in an “annealer” to take the stress out of the glass so that it doesn’t break.) Michael put a wheelbarrow in the middle of the studio and had his students knock the glass off in the wheelbarrow so that it would cool and break into shards. The end result of the glass was incredible. But as soon as students start to focus their goal on getting the glass into the annealer, they become so attached to the outcome, that they lose sight of the process. We talked about how this theory can translate to goal setting with other parts of our lives, such as business, relationships, health and finances.
Michael’s show will be at Vetri through October, 2019. 1404 First Avenue Seattle, WA 98101
Learn more about Michael here.
Michael Schunke and Josie Gluck are co-owners of Vetro Vero, a glass design company based in the Philadelphia area.
How have you been able to learn how to detach from outcomes? Or how do you merge the paradox of goal-setting and detachment? Please join our Sparkle Tribe and let us know!
