Blown Away (2019–…): Season 1, Episode 1 - Snapshot - full transcript

[Nick Uhas] Throw sand, lime and soda
into a 2,000 degree Fahrenheit furnace

and you get liquid glass.

Skilled glassblowers gather
the molten mixture using hollow pipes

and when they blow, the glass inflates
to form a bubble to shape and sculpt.

The tools and techniques
date back to Roman times.

But we're about to turn up the heat.

We've built
North America's biggest hot shop,

where ten exceptional artists

push themselves to creative extremes.

-Sure you wanna do this?
-Yes.

[Annette] Something will melt
or drop off...



-[smash]
-something will break every second.

-[Nick] And with great risk...
-[clatter]

Oh my God!

[Nick] comes great reward.

If they can survive our fiery competition,

they'll win a life-changing prize package
that will establish them around the globe

as best in glass.

I'm Nick Uhas and you're about to be...

blown away!

My name is Alexander Rosenberg.

I've been working with glass
for over 15 years.

[Edgar] I'm 22, almost 23.

People underestimate me for my age.

I've seen it a lot
and I proved a lot of people wrong.



I'm here to win.
Win for me and my family.

[Kevin] Glass kept me out of trouble
and kept me on the right path.

Winning this thing
would be like a dream come true, man.

[Leah] These big glass dudes
who think they're so awesome.

I feel like women can do
whatever guys can do.

[Momo] There's not that many
Japanese glass artists,

so for me,
representation is really important.

[Patrick]
Winning would be good recognition

of my skills as a glassblower.

[Annette] I am a management consultant,

but was a professional glassblower
for 10 or 12 years.

[laughs]

I'm a perfectionist.
Every little detail matters.

I think I'm a very polarizing personality.
I have lovers and I have haters.

Welcome to the hot shop!

-Is everyone ready to play with fire?
-[everyone] Yes!

[Nick] We have all the equipment you need.

Furnaces to collect molten glass.

Blowpipes for inflating the glass.

And punties to handle it.

Tools to shape, cut and twist.

Personal glory holes
to keep the glass hot for sculpting,

and annealers to slowly cool the glass
to prevent cracking.

Each time you'll be given
a glassblowing challenge,

and with the clock ticking,
you must design,

create and present an original piece
of blown-glass art.

At the end of the competition,
one of you

will become
the world's first Blown Away champion.

You'll also be awarded
with a $60,000 prize package

that includes a residency
at the world-renowned

Corning Museum of Glass
in UpstateNew York.

[applause]

However if you don't blow us away,

we'll ask you to leave the hot shop.

For your first challenge,

get the photo I asked you to bring.

This photo should capture some emotion,
and really mean something to you.

For the next six hours
you'll use it as inspiration

to create a piece of artwork
that is a snapshot of who you are.

You'll be evaluated on technical skill,

how well you follow the creative brief,

and how much creative bravery you show
in your artwork.

When you're done,

put your work in the annealer to cool off
and exit the hot shop.

Let me introduce you
to our evaluators.

Her contribution to glass art
and education

is respected around the world.
Award-winning artist Katherine Gray.

[applause]

[Benjamin] I was overjoyed
to see Katherine Gray.

I respect her so deeply.

[Leah] She's somebody I look up to

and I value her opinion a lot.

[Nick] Katherine will be
your resident evaluator.

She'll get to know you while you work.

Now for our guest evaluator,

from the prestigious Pilchuck Glass School
in Seattle, Washington,

Chris Taylor.

[applause]

I want to see things that will amaze me,

I want to see things
that will surprise me.

I don't want to see
anything that's derivative.

I want to see work that speaks of you.

When I look at your work later,
I want to see and hear your voice.

And I'm offering a bonus prize today
for the best work.

A Pilchuck Glass School scholarship.

[applause]

You're gonna have to continue to earn
your place here and get to work.

Get you up there, Dad.

[Deborah] I'm using a photo of me
surrounded by my first sculpture.

My first time in Venice.
Venice is the Mecca for glassblowers.

[Patrick] I was scuba diving under ice.

I was standing on this grassy hill
we'd climbed

and looking over
these huge mountain peaks.

I just looked so small
compared to the peaks.

This hand is going to be holding

a little, tiny globe.

It just kind of symbolizes how

we're really a lot smaller
than a lot of us think.

[Janusz] My son, my "Mini Me,"

inside me,
as though I'm his shelter, his protection.

I used sort of,
like a traditional, Roman-style base.

The photo that I brought
is a picture of me body-surfing.

It captures a moment
where I am in my own little world.

It's like a type of meditation,
I would say,

which is sort of how glassblowing
kind of is to me, too.

I'll use different tones of blues

and I'm going to make a little sphere here

and that symbolizes the world that I'm in
when I'm inside of the wave.

[Janusz] Hopefully it'll be good enough
to get to the next round, fingers crossed.

[clock ticking]

[torch fires up]

Grab one of those punties
and let's get started.

Grab some straight pipes
and straight punties.

-[Kevin] Grab the colors,
-[tap]

blues and greens, throw them
into the color box to heat up.

[Benjamin] Color is my favorite tool.

Gotta have all your color food groups
for a good meal.

What exactly is glass?

[Katherine] It's mostly made of sand.

A few other ingredients,
but it does cool really quickly

once taken out of the furnace.

Glory holes are where you can reheat it,
make it warm and malleable

so you can continue to shape it.
So it's a constant dance.

[clapping]

Game on!

[Benjamin] For me to do well
in this competition,

I'll have to be on my best.

I can do this!

I can do this.

Alexander Rosenberg,
he's a very accomplished glassblower.

Patrick Primeau,
his technique and skill is very high.

Janusz Poźniak, he comes
from a very established glass community.

[hissing]

The other glassblowers here...

I just don't know what they're capable of.

[Annette] As I haven't made anything
in four years,

I'm like a professional athlete
that retired and is like,

"I'm gonna make a comeback!"
We'll see. [laughs]

We'll see how well that works out.

[Edgar] When I was 11 or 12 years old
I was introduced to it.

Firstly you could only do
little lampworking, making beads.

I'd sit there at the bench,
turning little beads,

and look at the guys with the big sticks

blowing glass and I was like,
"I'm trying to do that."

[blowing]

[Edgar] My favorite part
is just looking at the blob...

just a hot blob, and when it's done,
it's something completely different.

It could be 13 times the size.

[hissing]

[Nick] I see there's one other person
for each glassblower.

[Katherine] Those are assistants
from Sheridan College.

They're essentially a second set of hands.

[Katherine] It's essential.

[Janusz] People you've never worked with
before,

that's one of the biggest challenges
for everybody here.

It's an individual's competition,
but I can't do it on my own.

Stop.
I've been blowing glass for 30 years.

[tap]
[smash]

I'll be surprised if anyone
has more experience than me.

Now let's do it for real.

Oh yes!

I've been working in glass
for approximately 30 years.

Experience is really important.

It did exactly what I wanted it to do.

Heat again.

These artists have a lot of things
going on in their brains right now.

They're fighting with
and working with gravity,

fighting and working
with heat and cooling.

[Deborah] Pull it off.

I'm going to flash after this. Flashing!

The hardest thing about glass?
Everything is hard.

You have to pay attention
every millisecond,

as anything can go wrong at any time.

[Katherine]
The assistant has to be on point,

the heat and the timing
has to be spot on...

[Janusz] Done.

[Chris] It's actually a lot like cooking.

Heard more than one glass artist say
they're sculpting with light.

[Katherine] Glass is a beautiful material.
It's very seductive, but fragile.

It breaks, it can crack.

Things can go wrong at any time.
Beautiful, but risky.

Yes, exactly.

-[smash]
-Oh no!

-[punty clatters]
-Get them in now!

I know that sound.

[laughs]

-It fell off the punty.
-[clang]

[Deborah] I need to get some air.

[Deborah] I just delicately touched it
and it hit the floor.

It just detached from the punty.

Boom.

This is the reality of it. Glass breaks.

It's what you do next that's important.

[Deborah] Okay, let's try it.

I'm re-punting my piece
and trying to save it.

Close me in, close me in.

I have a lot of experience
rescuing pieces.

Now I'm waiting for the glass to firm up.

Otherwise it'll be like a wet noodle.

Getting there. Keep closed.

Open.

Got it. Going to the hole!

We're in a competition here.

This is life, spontaneous things happen.
You have to make them work.

[click]

Yes!

Now we need to brush it.

Okay, heat.

Give it a big flash.

-Life support is on.
-[torch roars]

[Chris] These artists are all working hot.
It's quite warm out there now.

[Nick] The hot shop is very hot.

I'm sweating out every drop of liquid
in my body

and I look over and see Janusz...

this guy is a machine.

You feel like you're on fire.
The glass is on fire.

[flames crackle]

Ooh!

This is just the beginning.

Take a flash, we'll blow it out.

[Momo]
Today the challenge is to create a piece

that shows a little bit of who we are.

The photo that I brought is of me,
my sister and my mum.

The piece that I'm creating
is called Daruma.

He is a pretty classic symbol
that you see across Japan.

I'm making one today
just to kind of...

thank everybody that helped me
through my struggles, through my journey.

[torch roars]

I'm making a hand,

I just make a little paddle
and then I'm gonna separate the thumb,

then the middle,
then all the other fingers.

[Annette] The photo I brought
is my first day in Venice.

If you can see the look on my face,
it's the best thing on Earth.

To take that picture
and translate it into glass,

I'm making a very traditional vase shape,

and build that out with butterflies.

I don't know anyone who can see
a butterfly and remain unhappy.

[laughs]

I'm designing
a standalone glass sculpture.

Looks like a turkey!

It's not a turkey.

About the time that photo was taken,

my father is starting to grapple
with the first symptoms

of progressive dementia.

It's a really intense illness.

I feel sad that he had to go through that,
but...

at least...

we were... we were there together.

How's it going, Leah?

I am creating an interactive piece
about shared breath.

You breathe through it,
and it'll be this collective...

containment of breath.

What's the photo that you're working from?

A photo of the day my sister was born.

This is the first time I remember having
a conscious thought of a relationship.

I'm making three different sized pieces.

I have some bigger ones, some medium ones
and some really small ones.

Blow harder.

The small ones,

they're indicative
of really short relationships.

-[Katherine] How's it going, Alex?
-We're figuring it out.

Practice round.

Is that what's on the floor?
Some practice?

Practice.
[laughs]

Tell me what you're making.

I'm trying to make a bunch
of little pieces that fit together.

The photo has a picture
of my dog on it. The dog died.

My dog Cleo was the best relationship
I've ever had in my life.

-So I'm making a lacrimarium.
-Aha.

-A tear collector. You know it?
-Yes.

And when the tears are collected,

it magnifies the dog in the picture.

Many things could go wrong
with this design.

Things don't fit together properly.

And the optical effect
that needs to happen.

So I have to make sure
this thing is the right shape

and that a lens is going to sit
where I need it to

on this image and magnify it properly.

[Edgar] This is the first time
I've made a hand

with an arm attached to it.

And it's actually the biggest hand
I've ever done, too.

I'm definitely pushing
my limits right now. Flash!

Who do you say is taking the most risk?

[Katherine] Alex.

What he's working on
requires a lot of precision.

And Leah is doing an interactive piece.

We'll be picking it up, holding it,
breathing into it.

-Uh?
-Yeah, yeah.

[tapping]

I'm trying something a little bit new.

Normally these types of bases are done
with gluing joints when they're cold.

It's an intense challenge
to try to assemble this all hot.

Yoda said there is no try, just do, right?

Something along those lines.
[laughs]

Alright, grab it.

I got you.

[Edgar] I was thinking
about when you take tests at school,

and the teacher's like,

"You're the first done.
Sure you wanna do this?"

Yes. It come out exactly
how I wanted it to.

Nothing broke, nothing chipped.

I certainly won't be finishing early.

It'll be a nail-biter for me.

Time is definitely a worry right now.

[Patrick] I'm doing good for time.

Everything is on schedule.

I'm making an orca whale.

Scuba diving, that's my other passion.

[glass splintering]

The whole thing exploded.

The glass was too cold.

Temperature between the cold glass

and heat of the glory hole
just exploded in there.

I don't have time to make it again
the way it was.

I might make a smaller version of it.
We'll see.

I need... I need some air now.

[Kevin] This is glass.

It's a material with a mind of its own.

Sometimes stuff just happens.

Eek! I'll just try to focus
on what I'm doing.

Oh yeah, that's juicy!

[Patrick] There's gonna be some changes

in the process, but it should be...

just as nice.

[Katherine] One hour left!

I'm just worried.

The most complicated part
of assembling this piece

is picking up the individual pieces
out of the annealer,

heating them, affixing them to the piece
and sculpting them.

I don't want
to just slap everything together.

[Patrick] The riskiest part?

Not finishing it on time.

We had already spent...

over four hours on the previous one.

[ting]

Lots of things can go wrong.

Ready? Here it comes.

I'm pleased that things came out
to a quality that I wanted them.

I got the door for you.

Winning would be great.

I have a wonderful life as an artist
and a person that works in this material.

I'm not rich.

There are real things
that money would help.

[clip]

[Katherine] Thirty minutes left!

[ting ting]

[Momo] Winning would mean
infinite open doors I have yet to see.

[Kevin] I'm ready!

-[bangs]
-[girl] Got it.

-[splintering]
-[Kevin groans]

[sighs]

Both the foot and the sphere break off.

I went in to flash it one more time,

but we had spent too much time
outside the glory hole

and it immediately cracked
down the side of it.

[ting]
[smash]

[clang]

The piece was worthless,
so I just knocked it off onto the ground.

Done.

When you're at that point,
you're not thinking straight,

and I just...
I wasn't really thinking straight.

A pile of broken glass
is just a pile of broken glass, man.

[Annette] A lot of people watching
will be like, "It looks beautiful!"

As long as it is still on a pipe or punty,
it is not done. It could break any time.

[Nick] Fifteen minutes left!

[tapping]

-Got it?
-[thump]

[girl] Come on!

[click]

[clunk]

[Deborah]
Today's challenge is called "Snapshot".

We were asked to bring in a photo

of an emotionally significant time
in our lives

and then create a piece based on it.

[Momo] My piece is a symbol of luck.

You make a wish and you color in one eye.

When it comes true,
you color in the other eye.

[Benjamin] It's referencing
what my father meant to me.

It's poignant.

[Janusz] I'm a little nervous
I might have oversimplified things.

[Leah] I'm really confident in my piece.

I feel like it's engaging
and really moving.

[Kevin] I hope that the evaluators
consider my ambition.

[Annette] If the evaluators see my piece
and smile, I'm totally happy.

[Patrick] I'm a little nervous. It's not
at the level of the work I normally do.

[Alex] I want the evaluators to see
that it has a high level of workmanship.

[Edgar] For this challenge,
I feel I got the winning piece.

[Nick] Some of the pieces here,
I'm very clear what they are.

But others, I'm really curious about.

I want to read what they've written,

and look at the photograph
to see how it relates.

This is Deborah's work.

[Katherine] "This represents
the idealism of the young artist

while dealing with the horror
and struggle of the AIDS crisis."

Katherine, this is a hollow tube.

That's not something easy to do, right?

It's not easy to do,
especially when you spiral it around.

This is Edgar.

[Chris] Would you call this a bold move,

to attempt this sculpture?

I would call it a bold move.

Any time you try
to do something realistic,

that's a challenge in itself.

[Nick] This is Patrick's.

[Katherine] It's something you might see
at the airport gift shop.

The fabrication
is not exceptionally well done.

Oh dear, Kevin.

[Nick] This is Leah.

This does say it's an interactive piece.

I'll let you guys go ahead and...

-Shall we?
-breathe it out together.

[Chris] Alright.

[Nick] The first ever shared breath.

I feel like I've gotten to know Katherine
a little more today.

[Katherine] It's a nice analogy
to the glassblowing process.

Somebody else's air
is actually helping you create your piece.

[Nick] We have Alexander's over here.

[Chris] Wow.

He has done a really incredible job.

There are so many
technical tour-de-forces.

The water in that form
is acting as a lens, magnifying the dog.

These are really beautifully made pieces,
very beautifully made.

Shall we bring in the glassblowers?

I think I'll get high points

on conceptual bravery.

I think my chances are pretty good.

Looking around,
I certainly don't feel exempt or safe.

Welcome to your very first showing
in the Blown Away gallery.

[applause]

Janusz, tell me about your photograph.

The photograph was me and my son
when we were walking to the grocery store.

The majority of my life
I just had to take care of myself.

And now it's not about that.

It's taking care of myself
so I can take care of him.

The piece is representing me
protecting him, giving him shelter,

and then the other three pieces
show him growing

and becoming more distant from me
as he matures.

[Katherine] Kevin.

Did you break your glass on purpose?

I ended up breaking it on the knock-off
and didn't have time to make another one.

It happens.

Glass breaks.

[Katherine] Patrick.

Your piece looked like something
I might see in a gift shop.

What makes it better than that?

[Patrick] I know.

I tried to make it a little more elaborate

than what you would see
in every gift shop around.

[Nick] Thank you for your thoughts.

Please give us a few moments
to go over our thoughts. Thank you.

I think It's gonna be hard to judge.

I'm going to win.

[Nick] One of you has created
an exceptional piece of glass artwork

It shows personality.
Technically, it's exquisite.

It also shows an enormous amount
of creative bravery.

Today's "Best in Blow" is...

Alexander.

[applause]

[Nick] You not only won a scholarship
to the prestigious Pilchuck Glass School,

you're also now one step closer

to the $60,000 prize package

that includes a residency
at the Corning Museum of Glass.

[applause]

[Nick] Now unfortunately,
one of you has not blown us away.

That person is...

Kevin.

[Katherine] Kevin, glassblowers try
to make the best of a bad situation

and your piece didn't make that mark.

-Yes.
-We're sorry to see you go.

[Kevin] I just wasn't quite up to par
to compete with everyone else.

What I'm going to take
from this competition is...

the humbleness that comes with glass.

[Alex] Now I know I can do it once,

I'd really like to win some more.

But I think
there absolutely will be tears.