Blown Away (2019–…): Season 1, Episode 7 - Dual Intent - full transcript

where ten exceptional glassblowers

push themselves to creative extremes.

Because if they can survive
our fiery competition,

they'll win a life-changing prize package.

Now four remain,

-battling the clock...
-[glass smashes]

and the sweltering heat

of our furnaces.

I'm Nick Uhas and this is Blown Away.

Good morning, glassblowers.

It's time to divide and conquer,
because today,



you'll be pairing up.

[Deborah] I was worried
about getting a team challenge.

I've worked collaboratively in the past,

and I know the pitfalls of it.

For today's challenge,
you'll create a piece of glass artwork

that explores the theme of duality.

Like light and dark, hot and cold,
happiness and sadness.

You and your partner
must creatively design together,

then work separately
to create individual elements.

You will then combine those elements
for one cohesive work of art.

[Katherine] It'll be critical
that you assess each other's strengths

and marry those together.

Janusz, as the winner
of the last challenge,

you have the advantage
of choosing your partner.



Oh!

I think I'll choose Alex.

Why did you choose Alex?

Alex and Deborah know each other.

Might be a comfort level there,
giving them an advantage.

I want to separate them.

[Nick] Strategy is where you're going.

Competition's getting fierce.

Alright, so Janusz, you'll be with Alex.

So Deborah, you'll be with Patrick.

Your guest evaluator will join us
in the gallery.

Her name is Catherine Osborne.

She's former editor-in-chief

of the international architecture
and design magazine, Azure.

You'll have five hours to design, create

and present an original piece
of blown glass art.

You'll be evaluated as a team
on your design concept,

technical execution
and overall presentation.

Myself and the other evaluators

will then decide
which member of the losing team

should leave the hot shop.

We know it's challenging.

But as the last four competitors,
I know you're up for it.

Your time starts...

now.

[Janusz] Immediately I thought...

light, dark,

heavy, not heavy.

-Put deodorant on this morning?
-Yes, ha!

-[sniffs]
-[laughs]

[Deborah] Duality.

You know what that makes me think of?
Alchemy.

-Okay.
-Turning lead to gold.

What do you think?

Not resonating?

I feel heavy and light
and fragile and strong go together,

like a big rock.

-Like a dumbbell or a kettle bell?
-Kettle bell.

[Alex] It's the first time
I was first-picked for anything.

It was a flashback to...

picking teams in school sports
or something.

Where I'm always waiting on the sidelines.

"You take him." "No, you take him."

-Could even be leaves, feathers...
-Feathers.

Bubbles.

[Janusz] The challenge of working
with another artist

is being able to let go of your idea
and accept other people's ideas,

because we're different in a lot of ways.

[Alex] Yes, like I have dark hair.

And a beard.

There's that.

[laughs]

[Deborah] Love and hate, rich and poor.

-Science, religion?
-Yes, I'm into it.

Janusz won the challenge
and got to choose his partner.

He didn't choose either of us.

Big mistake.

[both laugh]

Yes. That's a great visual.

I'm thinking of a chalice.

[Patrick]
The most challenging part will be

to make it look like it could be
from one artist,

not just two random pieces of glass
put together.

I didn't even think of that.

But that is definitely a challenge.

[laughs]

[clattering]

[tapping]

[rattling]

Alex and I decided to work
with contrast of weight.

[Janusz] You do the kettle bell,
I'll start the bar.

Right. Let's get cracking.

[Janusz] We're doing kettle bells

and we're gonna counterbalance those

with a bunch of transparent bubbles.

Aha!

We want to make it balance,
like a teeter-totter.

Nothing is more dramatic
than looking at glass

that looks precarious, you know?

You can really get a visceral reaction.

I'm already sweating my ass off
and I haven't done anything.

Our design concept
is science and religion.

Reason versus faith, basically.

I'm responsible for the religion side.
Oh my God!

Patrick's responsible
for the science side.

Science has created its own sins,

and religion has created its own sins
as well.

I think there's right and wrong
in every camp, honestly,

so I guess
I'm a middle-of-the-road person,

which isn't very popular these days.

I think I'll try to do this first one
with two gathers and...

It's too thin. You'll distort it
putting the handle on.

[Alex] True.

I'm thrilled to be paired with Janusz.

I'll just lose a little bit of that.

-[Janusz] I wouldn't have done that.
-Just a little.

In many ways, he's one
of the most technically competent

glassblowers in this competition.

He's won three challenges.

So I'd say it's an advantage.

Actually,
I might throw a little more glass on this.

-[Alex] You're right.
-Go figure.

[Janusz]
I can't deny I'm feeling good.

I'm certainly feeling a lot better
than if I hadn't won three challenges.

[laughs]

Gotta put the headband on.

-It's getting serious.
-Oh yeah.

It's fun to work with Deborah.

Deborah is...

[speaks in French]

Oh!

-I think I know what that means.
-And that's good.

[Deborah] Patrick is steady.

I'm a little more chaotic in my approach.

Air! Quickly, here!

I can admit it. It's just how I am.

[Patrick] She's explosive.

[Deborah] Ah! Holy mother...

I am more explosive.

[both laugh]

-Looking good.
-Good!

I knew there was a reason
I got you on my team.

[Alex] I'm making the kettle bell.

We identified some
of the really important features

to get right: shape, texture and color.

Yes, there we go.

Also, many of them
have this pretty distinctive handle shape.

It's like a hard bend on either side.

Blow, please. Blow hard.

I've never lifted a kettle bell before.

I imagine you'd do something like this.

Deborah, do you think...

that should be long enough?

Can it come down a little bit?

Yes, I'm gonna make it look like...

Yes.

To combine the two pieces,

we've got a tubing
that looks like something

out of a scientific apparatus.

Just gonna let it sit there for a second.

I haven't won "Best in Blow" yet.

Sometimes you think you did fantastic

and people don't relate to the work.

That's the funny thing
about making art and glass sculpture.

[chink]

How bad I want to win?

So bad.

I want to win so bad.

[Janusz] You go up the stairs,
I'll hand it to you.

We wanted a good way
to show the difference in weight,

so we'll suspend it from the ceiling

hung from a thick, heavy bar
of solid glass.

Go higher.

I've pulled cane a lot
so far in this contest,

pulled it horizontally,

but if I want to make something
that's thick and straight,

it's much easier to do it vertically.

I'm gonna give a good pull.

Getting heavy?

Yes, man!

Four hours!

That's not really working. Hang on.

Redo.

[Alex]
My first kettle bell didn't go as hoped.

[laughs in despair]

It's hard to feel confident at this point.

We're nearing the end.

Everybody here is really awesome.
It's tough.

Awful.

[Janusz] Seeing Alex's piece,

I'm a little worried to say the least.

This is a team thing
and if one of us has a bad day,

this could be trouble.

[Alex] Redo.

I'm going to start again.

The kettle bells are challenging

because it's hard to make something
out of glass

that really evokes another object
in the world,

and it's important
that that connection happens immediately.

I'd rather do one that is right.

-How's it going?
-Good. We're excited about our idea.

Do you want to tell me
about the theme you're working with?

We're working with contrast of weight,

sort of a suspended counterbalance.

We're doing kettle bells on one end
and bubbles on the other.

Okay.

Alex, what are you working on?

Bad dumbbell.

[Katherine] Okay.

I threw out the bad one, so I'm trying
to make a good one this time.

Two flashes and we're going in there.

[Patrick] I'm making a beaker
with a little bit of chemical reaction,

little bubbles in there.

[Deborah] Patrick is using
a two-part incalmo technique

to combine the top with a solid component

in the bottom to make it look like liquid.

[Patrick]
I'll just squish that flat a bit.

The biggest challenge
is to make all the parts meet

perfectly on center.

When you attach them,
you only have one chance.

If it's wrong, you must start again.

But I don't have time for that.

-[Patrick] Push?
-[guy] Yes.

-[Patrick] Touch?
-[guy] You're good.

[Patrick] Perfect.

-Ooh!
-[bump]

-[Deborah] The bench again?
-[Patrick] Yes.

Back me up on the rotation.

I wanted to make
this big, grand, spiritual chalice,

sort of like a Holy Grail.

and it has Venetian caneworking in it,

to up the technical aspect.

Push.

Push. It's like having a baby.

Here she comes!

[clatter]

-Yes.
-[Katherine] How's it going, Deborah?

It's straightforward.

It's time not team that's the enemy.

Patrick is intelligent
and he brings skill to the table,

so we work well as a team.

Okay. Was Janusz correct in his suspicion

that you and Alex work together a lot?

We've never worked together.

I saw him in a store in New York once,
buying shoes.

Two hours, fifteen minutes!

[Nick] Katherine, what comes to mind
when you think of duality?

When you're working with glass,
you are constantly dealing with duality,

so even just within the material itself,

there's lots of things you can play off,

and maybe that is one difference
between the two.

Patrick and Deborah
are being a bit more metaphorical,

and Janusz and Alex
are being a little bit more literal.

[Janusz] What are you doing over here?

Taking some space.

[Alex] Our responses,
they're definitely different.

The other team's using more traditional
patterns and techniques,

from what I can see.

[Janusz] They made some sort of vessel...

things. There's canework and...

something familiar
with what they were doing.

What might be to our advantage

is that my idea,
it's not a familiar glass-blown object.

It's something a little more sculptural.

Those two are boring.

[Deborah] Janusz and Alex, their concept,

I feel like it's too pedestrian.

I really want pieces to win
that bring much more intelligence.

[Alex] Come back towards the punty.

The thing that's most uncertain
about making those kettle bells

is the surface on it.

Alright, see how that does.

We thought dusting it
with this black powder

would make it have
this kind of pocked surface

that looked like a rusty piece
of black metal.

[blowing]

I hope, when people see these,
they'll know right away,

"Oh, this is meant to be an iron weight."

We're going to make a real cannonball.

[Patrick] Blow.

-[clang]
-Stop.

[tapping]

I think this is coming good.

Making some small parts after the big one.

I'm making a test tube.

We used all the color chips,
those little grains in different sizes.

-More?
-Yes.

[Patrick] We poured a bunch in
and I flashed it in the glory hole

so it would melt a little
in the test tube,

like they're a crystallized version
of the liquid in my beaker.

That looks cool.

[clanging]

I want to see it finished.

We've got a black, heavy weight
and light, transparent, clear bubbles.

It's really simple, but I think
it's true to the challenge.

I'm putting all the balls together.

I'm making a bunch of them.

It's unlikely we'll use them all,
but we have the option.

The more, the merrier.
It's a bubble party.

[blowing short puffs of air]

[tapping]

Okay, there you go.

One hour to go!

[Deborah]
This is a pedestal foot for the chalice.

[Patrick] How tall is your cup?

It's 12 inches.

How tall's that going to be?

Twelve inches.

[Deborah laughs]

Okay. You've got 24 inches.
They'll be out of proportion.

I should've measured it.

The chalice, it is twice as big
as what I was expecting.

I couldn't say
"I'll make a smaller piece." It was done.

Jump off the cliff
and there's no going back.

-Like that?
-Yes.

And down. Like that, okay?

[Patrick] Stop, a little discussion
and back at it.

We have to make it work,

So I made an extra piece of tubing
that will fit on the beakers.

I can make a plate
and glue the thing to the plate.

[Patrick] Do it.

It's essential
to make our piece look unified.

If it looks like crap, it's over.

My teammate went a little bigger
than I was expecting.

but we'll fix that.

[laughs]

[Janusz] The riskiest part
is going to be the assembly.

To put it together in the gallery
and suspend it all.

[Alex] Any other connecting pieces
that we should be making?

The bubble side is sorted.

The weight side...

We have to hang it up
in a way that looks precarious,

but doesn't actually cross the line
to falling.

We want it to look dangerous
and the best way to do that

is to make it be kind of dangerous.

[Janusz] We're guessing
that's going to work.

In theory it should.

Five minutes left!

Here, give that to me.

[Alex] You ready?

Get it in the box!

Woo!

[tapping]

You got it, you're good.

[Patrick] Good. We're done.

[Deborah] Today's challenge
is to work as a team

to make a project that reflects duality.

I think we did a really good job.

It was a really enjoyable process,
working together.

[Patrick] Yes. The work is spot-on
for the challenge.

[Alex] Our idea is really dynamic
in terms of its physical presence.

I haven't seen anything
in this competition

that really just has that visual tension.

[Catherine] Wow.

Wow.

[Nick] Catherine Osborne,
thank you for joining us.

You're welcome.

[Katherine] I'm excited to see
how these brains worked together.

To be tasked with collaborating
on the idea and the execution

can be challenging in itself.

Bringing creative minds together,
that's tension and that's drama.

If you get it right,
and it's hard to get that right...

-[Nick] Mm-hm.
-that's amazing.

[Katherine] Oh Lord!

[Catherine] Wow.

[Katherine] I feel they aimed really high
on this piece.

The idea of opposing science and religion,

but also trying to marry them.

Conceptually this is really strong.

Physically they've created
a "seeping in" metaphor here,

with the coil.

[Katherine] I like that.

I could be fussy about a few things.

The test tube is not straight,
the scale of this is challenging.

But imagine the amount of wine
that you would drink from this chalice.

-Is this water in here?
-[Catherine] Is it solid?

It is solid glass.

-That's impressive, right?
-It is.

He used this technique called incalmo.
That's definitely challenging.

This looks like one person created this.

So I feel in a way, they nailed that part

-of the brief.
-Yes.

-[Catherine] That looks heavy.
-[Katherine] It's very dramatic.

This is that tension

that we were talking about
at the beginning.

It's loaded with that.

-Drama.
-Drama.

It's pretty awesome.
They even have the rust.

[Katherine] So this is glass powder.

-It's literal, definitely.
-Yes.

-Light, heavy.
-Yes.

But it's poetically expressed.

-Right.
-I love that.

I want to address the equilibrium
in the room.

Okay? It's balancing for real.

It is balancing for real.

In some ways, this is not very challenging

to fabricate in a hot shop.

The challenge was after all the pieces
are cooled down.

[Catherine] It seems a little nit-picky

but for me, I can see they're blown glass,

and I kind of want them
like the kettle bells,

forget they're glass
and see them as bubbles.

But beautiful execution,
that was really enjoyable.

-[Katherine] Exciting.
-[Catherine] Interesting.

-Very different, both of them, right?
-Yes.

We've discussed it at length.

Now I'd like to hear
from the glassblowers themselves.

Likewise.

[Janusz] Going into this critique,

I'm actually quite relaxed.

Maybe because I've won three challenges,

but ultimately because I'm very happy
with what we did.

[Nick] Before we start,

I'd like to introduce you
to our guest evaluator,

Catherine Osborne.

-Thank you.
-[applause]

This morning we asked you
to work in teams

to create a single piece of artwork

that explores the concept of duality.

Deborah and Patrick,
if you guys could explain your work.

So... science and religion.

The main idea was that they try
to achieve the same goal

in explaining life
and our world as we know it

in two totally different ways.

That was a home run with that theme.

How technically, you did a great job.

I would be a bit nit-picky

about some of the proportions and shapes,

but I feel there's enough there
that you read your overall theme well.

That sounds pretty positive.
Thank you, Kathy.

I agree with what Katherine is saying,

but the one thing I felt was...

the test tube...
I don't think it needed to be there.

There was so much thematic interpretation

already happening.

I don't want to be led,
I want to discover.

Okay.

Janusz and Alexander.

So we started with this idea
of heavy and light,

but then, you know,
there's opacity and transparency

and fragility and strength.

We wanted to make something
that was visually and physically dynamic.

I have to say,
when we first entered the gallery

there was a "wow" moment,

when we saw your piece.

Those kettle bells...
really had a nice sense of humor to it,

it had a nice drama to it

that just shook us around
and thought, "My God, it's glass!"

And what you talked about,
a duality of weight versus lightness,

it's played out beautifully,
very nicely done.

Thank you.

So that initial "wow" of just,
all of these things

being so precariously suspended,
knowing everything's made out of glass.

But I did feel that, technically,

there's probably more challenges
in what Deborah and Patrick tried.

But it is still very impressive-looking,
just as an object.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Give us a moment.

Thank you.

Ooh!

We're neck and neck, guys.

[Alex] I think Janusz and my intentions

came through really clearly
to the evaluators.

So I feel pretty good about it.

-I am conflicted.
-Yes.

I am conflicted.

I know that ours wasn't as dramatic
as our competitors,

but it's a really awesome piece.

We both put our hearts into this.

I do not want us to lose.

We were interested to see
how you'd work together,

especially because
you have such strong individual styles.

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

Deborah and Patrick.

[applause]

[laughs]
Oh my God!

Nothing feels better than winning.

I'm glowing.

I'm like...

What tipped the balance for us

was the ambition of taking on

such rich material
of science and religion.

You really challenged yourselves in that.

We recognize that and appreciate that.

I'm just happy.
My work is getting better and better,

so I think I stand a chance.

I'm so ready to win that one.

And the following one.

I'm sorry to say, Janusz and Alexander,

you did not blow us away today.

You are the losing team.

Janusz has won three and I've won one.

It'll be a hard task

for the evaluators to send Janusz home.

I'm getting ready
to walk out of the hot shop.

It's not a good feeling.

[Janusz] Alex's kettle bells...

a stunning piece to look at,

and the judges weren't as impressed
with my piece,

so it's extremely nerve-wracking.

The person leaving the hot shop is...

No one.

You are four very strong glassblowers.

We think you're all deserving
of another challenge.

How do you feel?

-The happiest I've felt in the whole show.
-[laughing]

Can we get some extra pairs of pants
in here, because...

[laughing]

Personally,
I've been a bundle of nerves all day

just from hanging that thing.

Yes, it's a huge release and relief.

As we get to the end of this competition,

things are only going to get tougher.

You'll have to push yourselves
emotionally, physically and creatively.

You want to win the $60,000 prize package.

We're looking forward to seeing
what you'll create next time.

The top four remain the top four.

[applause]

-Good job, buddy.
-Good work.

On to the next challenge.

-[sighs]
-Yeah.