Blown Away (2019–…): Season 2, Episode 1 - Mirror, Mirror - 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're back
at North America's largest hot shop

to watch 10 exceptional artists...

fight fire with fire.



-[Cat] They have one shot and that's it.
-You can touch a piece and crack it.

-[gasps]
-[glass breaks]

This is part of making glass.

[Nick] And with great risk...

-[grunts]
-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 get ready...

to be Blown Away.

I'm Chris Taylor.

Some people call me arrogant.
And some people call me a daredevil.

I would say it's both.



I'm representing all the women
that have the chops

and don't often get
all the opportunities to show them.

I'm Elliot Walker.

I've been blowing glass for 12 years.

I'm the random British guy. [laughs]

It's very important for me
to represent the UK.

I have faced challenges in my life,
but I've paid my dues.

I'm here now
because I worked hard to be here.

I'm Tegan. I am from Australia.

I am a personal trainer at the moment.

My glass dream is to make my art,
just my art,

and blow glass as much as I want.

I'm not here to brag,
I'm here to blow glass.

I'm very much an artist.

The hot shop is like a second home.

I never went to school for glass.

I want to be here and I need to be here.

To me, there's really no difference.

My name is Nao.

Glass makes me happier
than anything in this world.

I'm known for flameworking.
I'm the wild card, the underdog.

Welcome to the hot shop.

I've never seen so many glory holes
in one place in my life.

Hundreds upon hundreds of glassblowers
from around the globe

wanted to be right here, right now.

You ten have beat them out.
So, congratulate yourselves.

But, look around.

There are nine other artists
who are standing in your way

of becoming Blown Away Champion.

I'm the silent killer.
No one knows what I'm capable of.

The prize is life-changing.

The bragging rights, the spotlight,

the international stage,
in a package worth $60,000.

I make pennies every year.

I've never even seen $60,000.

[Nick] Included in that is a residency

at one of the most respected
glass institutions in the world,

the Corning Museum of Glass.

I want it.

I might win this. I might get this prize.

I'm gonna cry. [chuckles]

So, what's in store for you?
Ten timed challenges

meant to push your creative limits
and test your technical abilities.

At the end of each challenge,
we expect that you present us

with a piece of glass art
that blows us away.

If you don't,
we'll ask you to leave the hot shop.

Each time and every time, you'll have
to impress our resident evaluator,

Katherine Gray.

[applause]

Katherine Gray is
a celebrated glass artist,

as well as an influential curator
and educator.

Katherine's a badass.
I'm a little scared. [chuckles]

[Jason] She has this virtuosic skill.

She's an icon.

During this competition,
you're gonna get hot, tired, frustrated.

Glass will shatter,
and so will some of your dreams.

I've sacrificed so much, you know.
I've sacrificed relationships

just to do this craft.
It's just all I've wanted.

We have all the equipment you'll need.

Furnaces to collect molten glass,
blowpipes for inflating the glass,

and punties to handle it.

Tools to cut, shape and twist.

Personal glory holes to keep the glass hot

and annealers to slowly cool the glass
to prevent cracking.

For every challenge,
we'll bring in a special guest evaluator.

Today, that person is...

Alexander Rosenberg.

-[female contestant] Wow!
-[male contestant laughs]

[Nick] Alexander is a passionate artist
and glass art instructor.

But more importantly, last season,

he was standing exactly where you are.

[Elliot] Alexander was my favorite person
from the last series.

'Cause, it's like seeing a celebrity,
isn't it?

[Chris] I'll take the credit for it.

Alex was one of my previous students.

[Alexander] I know firsthand
what you're going through.

This competition is going to challenge you

in ways that
you've never thought possible.

[Nick] For your first challenge,
we've mounted mirrors in your work spaces.

We want you to use these mirrors
to express not how the world sees you,

but how you see yourself.

[Katherine] Only you know
what lies beneath that surface.

The quirks, the insecurities,
the experiences

that have made you who we see here today.

We want to get to know you, the real you.

So, my advice is to create something
deeply personal.

You have five hours to design, create

and present
an original piece of glass art.

You'll be judged on concept, creativity
and your technical skills.

Your time for self-reflection starts...

now.

[upbeat music playing]

Okay. This is gonna be interesting.

Who am I? That's the question today.

It's a tough question to answer.

When I look at my reflection,

I see the light and the darkness combined.

I see a person who's put a lot of time
and effort to be exactly where I'm at.

[Andi] I'm thinking about amorphic shapes
that are flowing,

which I think represents my change
and growth as a human.

[Ben] The spiral is going to be
my main form,

trying to translate that as my emotions.

I'm gonna be making a series of soft,
sort of organ forms

representing the transcendence
of the mind from the body.

It's a solid sculpted teddy bear,

holding a cushion heart,
because that's all my love.

Sort of got these two figures.

One is what I want to be,
and one is what I used to be.

There's this bubble and I don't know
if it's keeping things out

or keeping things in.

[Tegan] There's no plan B.

I'm gonna make this.
I'm gonna succeed at making this.

[humming fanfare]

All right, let's start.

-Let's do it.
-[Andi] Grab color.

[Elliot] Okay, right.

[metal clanks]

[Jason] I need color,
and there are 10 people

elbowing each other,
trying to get what we need.

[Tegan] Sorry.

I'm a little overwhelmed.
You know, this is chaos.

I'm hoping not to blow it.

-[blowing]
-[blowing]

[Elliot] For the first challenge,
you really have to push yourself.

There's no point staying safe.

It might work.

Might look like a dog turd,
but it might just be brilliant.

And get it hot.

[clock ticking]

So, you have one shot and that's it.

[clatters]

Alexander, how does it feel to be back
in the Blown Away hot shop?

This is a totally surreal experience
to be on the other side of it.

All the activity in the shop.
All the different stuff going on.

And to know the uncertainty
and kind of anxiety

of what it is to come into a new place.

I'm glad that I'm not down there
this time.

[sighs]

[Nick] How difficult is it
to create a piece

that's almost entirely self-reflective?

It is a big risk to show
that kind of vulnerability and sincerity

and put that forth as one's work.

[Nick] You're putting yourself out there.

When that gets shot down,
that's, like, directed at you.

-That you got shot down.
-Exactly.

[Alexander] But this first challenge
really kind of sets the tone.

[Katherine] People start to get
a sense of who the competition is.

You see what other people are making.

-Who to watch out for.
-You know...

Right.

[torch fires up]

[Nick] Who here has the most experience?

I would say Chris Taylor

and Andi are the most experienced.

But I feel like even some of the people
with less experience are really skilled.

[Cat] Chris,
how long have you blown glass?

Oh.

A long time.

Chris Taylor was a former teacher of mine.
So, that's gonna be interesting to see.

Chris is the man I've gotta take down.
Don't tell him that.

What an honor
to compete against Chris Taylor.

I don't want to be overly confident,
but I do think I'll win this competition.

Oh, beautiful.

Beautiful.

So, we are trying to do something
called "hot popping"

to chip small pieces of this glass off.

My piece is about the idea
of a kind of loss.

It's what is left
after the glass is taken away.

Like a drink ring.

Something that you would have left over
after a glass comes off a table.

I would hate to ever stop blowing glass.

It's almost the longest relationship
I've ever had.

Can I have a puff of air, please?
There you go.

Blow hard.

-Stop.
-I see they're working with assistants.

[Katherine] These are assistants
from Sheridan College.

They have to develop
a rapport pretty quickly

and figure out how to work with each other

as well as possible,
to realize their ideas.

Clean up that top.

-I need you to turn. Sorry.
-It's all good. I got it.

I am one of the more chill glassblowers
you might work with.

'Cause when you start rushing,
that's when things go crazy.

I know that I have
the least amount of experience.

I'm going to come out all guns blazing.

If I do it right,
I'm gonna scare everyone.

And if I do it wrong... I'll go home.

[Tegan] Glassblowing is the most fun.

Like, look at this material.
It's just cool.

When I heard the challenge,
I instantly thought "teddy bear."

Woo-hoo!

It's going for a ride.

I spent a lot of my life
not letting people in.

The teddy bear represents
an emotional vulnerability.

Yeah, we got this.

Blow, blow. Blow har...
As hard as you can.

This is the first time
we've brought in international artists.

[Katherine] Nao is from Japan,

Elliot is British,
Tegan is from Australia.

To be representing Canada,
you know, that means a lot.

[Katherine] All of those countries
have vital glass communities,

and they've gotta do them proud.

[Brad] I don't want to have to go back
and apologize to everyone, right?

Just, "Sorry. Sorry, Canada."

Might be a little bigger than I planned.

Not a problem now
but might be a problem later.

[whistles]

I'm intimidated going
into a North American hot shop.

Perfect.

The UK glass scene is very tight,
very small.

The level of skill and equipment
that you have in North America,

we don't have that.

You know, it's about refining the form.

I am always prepared for failure.

Fear is my motivation,
and I think I run on it.

[Andi] Elliot is making this piece.
I was just like,

"Whoa! That is so cool."

[Elliot] I've got a lot of things to make.

Okeydokey.

It's probably gonna look really garish.

Lovely.

[sizzling]

Yeah, okay. Um...

I'm making this flower
and a bowl of glass shards around.

The bright flower represents myself,

and the glass shards is the shell
that I broke through

to get to who I am today.

Nice! [chuckles]

I'm not really angry,
but this is part of the process.

Katherine, what are they doing
on the floor

when they're stretching the glass?

[Katherine] So, that is a technique
called "pulling cane,"

and those long strands of glass
are called cane.

Those typically get cut up
into shorter lengths

and used in various ways
to create kind of color patterns.

Well, we're gonna do, like,
a super simple murrine roll-up.

To make murrine, you have to chop up cane
into tiny pieces.

And you heat it up
and smoosh it all together.

We roll the bubble, and then this will be
all on the surface of the glass.

It's really time-consuming stuff.

Doing it in five hours,
that's the challenge right there.

[Jason] I really love blowing glass.

As a Black man working in this field,

people who see me in the hot shop
know that it's possible.

And that's really empowering to me.

So, right now,
I'm making some mezza filigrana.

Mezza filigrana are canes rolled up
on a bubble

and then twisted to create a spiral.

I'm making a calabash gourd.

It's a vessel.

It's native to Africa,
and it's used as a ritual object.

I think it's a good representation
of who I am.

I feel pretty optimistic about it.

[humming]

I don't have any music to listen to,
so I have music in my head.

[Nick] Alexander,
who are you keeping an eye on?

I gotta say, I'm excited and interested
to see Mike Shelbo here.

You know, he's primarily known
as a flameworker.

Flamework is glassblowing that's done
in front of a bench-mounted torch.

And a lot of it uses
a completely different material.

It's borosilicate glass
instead of soda-lime glass in the furnace.

[Nick] Do you think that's an advantage
or a disadvantage?

-Maybe too early to say. [chuckles]
-Okay.

I'm adding on bits that will become slugs.

What you're gonna see in this piece

is a lot of things
that I've been struggling with

and fighting against my whole life.

Depression, laziness.

Baby steps. A little bit at a time.

[clock ticking]

[Elliot] Hold it steady.

What's the matter with you?
Are you a weakling?

There's only one hour left, everyone.

Damn it.

[sighs]

We're getting to be close
to being in trouble here.

[Tegan] I feel pretty good for time.

But things could definitely change...
like that.

Stop.

How you doing, Brad?
You got a big piece going on here.

Yeah, I didn't really wanna go
this big necessarily, but...

the parts that go inside
are this big, so...

Being an artist is not easy.

I have to ask myself,

"Is this the best decision for my family?

To continue blowing glass?"

Have you been blowing glass a lot lately?

[Brad] A little bit.
But I took a good year off

to raise my daughter
as a stay-at-home dad.

So, a win here could be really meaningful
for your career?

Yeah, that would be something
to, like, get back in... back in the game.

[Andi] So, I'm from New York.

I talk fast. I work fast.

I have a very clean, modern aesthetic.

I like making glass
that's just really beautiful.

[Katherine] Can you tell me
about your concept?

Yeah, I feel like we're all souls
and spirits in transition.

Uh-huh.

So, I wanted to represent that with forms
that are also evolving and morphing.

Where is you in that?

Uh, I... I don't... I don't feel like...
It's hard to define myself.

All right, let's get the show
on the road here.

And flash.

Nao, what are we going to learn about you
in this piece?

I have been working on myself
for the last couple years.

And now I feel like I finally love myself.
I accept who I am.

But what also makes me unique
is the process that get me here.

When my brother passed away,
I was 14 years old.

He was better at everything.
Everybody loved him.

I just blamed myself every day.

I'd wake up middle
of the night, screaming.

I had a lot of anxiety.

I was like, okay,
let's find a way to be happier

with who I am.

So, I wanted to not just to represent
the pretty flower,

but actually I went...
walked through the shards

to get to the flower, and the journey
that I'm trying to represent.

Good luck.
Looking forward to seeing your results.

-Thank you so much, Kathy.
-Alright.

♪ Give it a little turn
Give it a little blow ♪

♪ Give it a little level ♪

It's really hot.

[exhales heavily]

[Tegan] The glory hole is so hot.

I'm starting to feel
a bit nauseous and dizzy.

[Mike] I'm sweating into my eyes,
sweating through my clothes.

[Cat] I'm clenching my teeth,
trying to breathe through all the pain.

[Andi] You're tired and you'd like to take
five minutes, but you have to keep going.

I honestly don't have
a good feeling about this.

I'm gonna make this thing too damn big.

The bigger this bubble is getting,
the less confident I am.

Oh! Burn!

Okay, I just gotta, like...

regroup.

It's disappointing.

Bad things happen sometimes.
It's just part of making glass.

I'm gonna save what I can.

I have to at least try
to get this piece done.

-[Katherine] There's only 30 minutes left!
-[Elliot] What?

[Nao] Oh, man!

[Katherine] Start thinking about getting
your pieces in the annealer.

[Ben] I have to get my spiral finished.

Turn, towards me.

[woman gasps]

Sorry, Ben.

I tried to spin my spiral,

but the glass just wouldn't cooperate.

I bit off more than I could chew.

I'm feeling pretty bad,

but you gotta be resilient, you know?
You don't want to give up.

So, I'm dipping up again,
and I'm trying it

with a little less glass this time.

[blowing raspberries]

I am exhausted. I am nauseous.

And I'm running out of time.

It's okay. Worse comes to worst,
we just stick this stuff on.

I'm not gonna be able to finish the piece
like I wanted it to be finished.

I need the arms and the ears.

I'm just gonna chuck it on. Screw it!

Ten minutes left.

-You only have ten minutes.
-[Tegan groans]

One more flash.

[torch fires up]

[Ben] There in the middle a little bit.

Turn, straighten. Straight up, straight.

[woman gasps]

-I think we're done.
-All right.

-[Jason] All right, all set.
-[repeating] Hold.

Get under it. Get under it.

Opa!

-[Ben] Let's go. Box it.
-Go.

[Tegan, repeating] Sorry.

[Mike] Coming through to Annealer Three!

[Jason, repeating] Behind.

-Legend, mate.
-[Tegan giggles nervously]

-[Nao] Thank you.
-[Elliot makes fart noise, laughs]

[exhales deeply]

[soft music playing]

[Cat] The challenge today
is to look beyond the mirror

and dive deep within ourselves.

[Elliot] I hope the idea behind it
will show quite strongly.

I'm being ambitious.

[Chris] My piece is
a good introduction to me.

I'm gonna always innovate.

When I look in the mirror, what I see
is the journey that I took.

I see myself as a soul
that's in transition.

I'm laying it all out for you.
It's kind of my ugly side.

Even though it didn't work out exactly
as I wanted, I still believe in the piece.

[Ben] I've spent a lot of time
on self-reflection.

I'm always pushing myself
to be an inspiring person.

I'm really proud of my concept.
I believe that I nailed it.

I do have my flaws,
just like my glass piece.

[Nick] All right, here we are,
all ten pieces.

They've each provided us
artist statements.

That's gonna give us some insight
into what they want us to see.

[Nick] Let's start with Nao's piece.

"Over the shards of old selves
and old beliefs,

I see myself flourishing
brighter than ever."

I like the flower.

I think it's a nice contrast
to the sharp edges of the glass.

It speaks to me of this quality
of softness with resilience.

Maybe like kindness
that could come off as weakness.

I think it works pretty well.

[Nick] This is Brad's piece.

[Katherine] He was working on
a large piece that hit the floor.

This is a good save.

[Alexander] Knowing Brad's other work,
he is an exquisite and precise craftsman.

I think for him,
putting broken glass on a pedestal

is a huge risk and a departure
from the work that he normally does.

[Nick] This is Ben's piece.

"The sphere represents me
and the spiral represents

the understanding that I may never be
fully complete or done growing."

I can see a lot of trauma.

That shows the struggle
that he went through making this piece.

I like this ball.

It's a little rough up at the top here,
which is a little unfortunate.

The spiral wrap around here,
I'm not totally sure I sense

how they work together.

Maybe if the spiral was larger,

it would have made more sense
with this artist statement.

[Nick] This is Andi's piece.

I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised.

But I'm not totally sure
I see her in here.

[Nick] Do you think Andi just made
what she wanted to

and then tried to make it fit the brief?

I feel like there's
some shoehorning going on there.

Yeah, yeah, definitely.

[Nick] This is Jason's piece.

The technique is there.

It's maybe not the most risky piece.

I really like it.
I don't know if I love it.

There's something interesting,
conceptually happening

about a Black body
as an object of spectacle.

[Katherine] That probably reflects
his experience as a Black glassblower.

I have a taste of that
being a female glassblower,

that you realize that you are
in the minority in this field.

[Nick] This is called, "Say No To Slugs."

Umm...

I'm not loving the piece.

The aesthetic is very cartoony
or video game-ish.

Knowing Shelbo's other work,

this definitely kind of fits in line
with what I've seen him do a lot before.

Is he taking a risk?
Is he getting outside of flameworking?

I would say not, no.

I would hope,
if he stays in the competition,

that he really diversifies
what we see from him.

Yeah, I gotta say,
I wanted more from him. [chuckles]

[Nick] So, this is Elliot's.

I know you guys are the pros,
but I think this is awesome-looking.

This is something
that I would want in my house.

[Alexander] I'm impressed with the scale

and the sheer quantity of stuff
that he made.

Certainly shows a lot of ambition.

-[Nick] Did he come out swinging?
-I think he did.

It looks like he had something
to prove here, and he's kind of done it.

[Nick] This is Chris Taylor.

The part that's the most compelling to me
is these drink rings.

The idea of the absence
of something illustrating

what used to be there
is central to what glass does

as an artistic medium.

But I think there are certain details
that are lacking some refinement.

-Like the lid not...
-Yeah.

For how precise everything is,

I thought the lid would fit
a little more precisely.

It should sit on this ring.

It's very, very close.

It's no Alexander Rosenberg,

-that's for sure.
-Oh.

[Nick] This is Tegan's piece.

[mocking exhale]

Things are a little
rough around the edges. Literally.

[Alexander] There are these distortions
that I actually think are interesting

or that add something to the piece,

but she doesn't present it
as her intention.

You know, a big part of glassblowing
is being able

to deal with... when things go wrong

and trying to make something of it.

She could have responded to what she had,
rather than really try to

pretend that everything was fine.

[Nick] This is Cat's piece.

-I've never seen glass like this.
-Mm-hm.

I really love the effect of the murrine.

It's a really complicated,
time-consuming process.

As a competitor,

on your first challenge,
would you have ever done this technique?

No, I mean, I'd say that was super gutsy.

I'm certainly impressed by it.

It's a huge risk that she was taking,
and I think it paid off in a lot of ways.

All right. Let's go hear
from the glassblowers themselves.

[suspense music playing]

[Chris] I am confident.

I think I could be the first
to blow away the evaluators.

[Andi] I'm excited
to be judged by Katherine.

I think that she is on-point conceptually.
I'm gonna learn a lot from her.

[Nick] We've taken a look
at all of your pieces,

and I think it's safe to say
that this competition is gonna be fierce.

Andi, could you tell us more
about your piece?

I feel like my soul is in transition.

So, I wanted to represent myself

with objects that feel like
they were flowing and moving and changing.

I have a little trouble seeing you,
as a person, in your piece.

-Tegan.
-My bear, I was baring my soul.

The imperfections reveal
my own imperfections.

I think that
that's actually not a bad quality.

Being not perfect allows you to grow
and develop.

Thanks, Tegan.

Chris, tell us about your work.

I describe my work
as the idea of presence and absence.

The drink rings being what's not there,

as important
as the object itself that is there.

Were you happy with the final object,
the beaker, with the fit of the lid?

Overall, considering it was the first go
in the shop,

I feel pretty good about it.

Ben, describe your piece to us.

I'd like to start off by saying,
the overall construction of my piece

did not go as planned.

Do you feel like you used your time well
in the studio?

Hm, well, hindsight's always 20/20.

I took a big risk
with what I was trying to accomplish.

Unfortunately,
the construction just wasn't there.

Thank you, artists.
Please give us a few moments to discuss.

[suspense music playing]

I feel like I'm in danger.

I'm terrified I'm gonna be the first
to be voted off.

I'm so disappointed
that I was so cocky with my time.

I'm nervous. I hope this piece
doesn't send me home.

We appreciate you waiting.
You should all be proud of yourselves.

But for this first challenge,

there was one of you
whose technical abilities

and creative skill
stood out among the rest.

Today's Best in Blow is...

Elliot. Congratulations.

Thank you.

[laughing]

It's a good start, isn't it?
Yeah. [laughs]

Winning the first challenge
is a big thing.

Thank you very much.

You're one step closer
to the $60,000 prize package

that includes a residency
at the Corning Museum of Glass.

[Elliot] I think there's a target
on my back.

But I'm not surprised, either.

[laughs]

And now, for the bad news.

The person whose piece
did not blow us away is...

Tegan.

Please, say your goodbyes
and leave the hot shop.

[Tegan] I'm really disappointed in myself.

I made a subpar piece.

Thank you, guys.

I know that I'm a better glassblower
than I showed.

I don't think that I got to say

everything that I wanted to say,
but I'm just going to keep making glass.

To the rest of you, you've earned
your place in the hot shop,

but you're gonna have to keep fighting
to stay here.

As soon as one person goes,
it just becomes real

that it could be you at any point.

[Nick] We'll see you
at the next challenge.

Oh, my God. Oh, my God.
I want to do this again.