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Dave

@sc0toma

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A brain trying to figure out what to do with a blind spot

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Dan Hoffman (@danhoffmanglass), with engraving by Toth Tibor Tamas (@tothtibortamas) 2024.

This is Lattice Orb 4, an atomic lattice from the otherwise unknown universe of the artist's head. In some of his other sculptures, these vertices are representations of the atoms making up famous molecules with which our brains have interesting cognitive and emotional relationships. The implication is that these lattices, as small as they appear, are actually huge replicas of structures seen on a journey inward towards the scale of the neurons which generated them. Whatever the order of magnitude or corporeality of its inspiration, this glass sculpture is the perfect size to compel closer inspection, pull you in, and hypnotize you in the process of exploration. At least that was my experience with it. The engraving adds to the overall impression that an alien civilization carefully packaged this specimen for later use. What that use may be is an excellent subject to ponder.

This is one of the best question generators I've personally come across, with one particularly salient question being "how does he do that?" Luckily and generously, he has some excellent videos of his meditative process. Absolutely amazing marble.

The milkdrop preset here is called +80 (by NG, Flexi, AdamFX, shifter, LuxXx, and Many Others)

#danhoffmanglass #tothtibortamas #marbles #glassart #headyglass by @sc0toma

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a month ago

Yoshinori Kondo 2022 (@yoshinorikondo). This piece is called "Neppa", which I believe means "heat wave." The reason for it's name becomes obvious under UV, when YK guy becomes engulfed in a rippling neon inferno. I love the experiments with space and structure on this piece, and how his dots interact with the folds in the central ball of plasma. Yoshi's dots have this amazing ability to straddle representation and non-representation in a way that reliably pulls characters, and sometimes stories, out of my brain. I can't unsee the fire demons in this one, for example. I'm never quite sure exactly what was consciously intended, though, so it tricks me into thinking that maybe I'm starting to create something, or that I should be. So I try to. Most of the time I fail spectacularly at whatever I'm trying to do, but I'm still grateful for it. I know this is a very long winded way to say I get inspired by Yoshi's work, but I decided to fail spectacularly at brevity today.

As for the background, I got a wild hair a couple days ago, when I was hiding from the heat wave, listening to music, pondering, and staring at milkdrop. This is the situation in which I grow most of my wild hairs, and I feel like Cousin Itt at this point. I thought it was pretty sweet how the glass envelopes itself in the patterns displayed behind it. It's not super clear to me how permissions work for milkdrop presets though, and I have absolutely no issue taking this down if the author isn't ok with it. This particular preset is by EVET, called Pentacyanide. I just desaturated it and added contrast. To EVET, Ryan Geiss and everyone else who's worked on milkdrop and it's presets, if you ever see this, you kick so much ass! Also, thank you @shoppurplehaze for really hooking it up on this beautiful marble!

#yoshinorikondo #kondoglass #marbles #glassart #headyglass by @sc0toma

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2 months ago

Credo (@credoglass) and O'neill (@oneillglass) 2026. This cohesive collab is the result of what the artist described as "spherical jazz". It's easy to see how you'd extend the metaphor here. The way each artist precisely placed their solos (millies) in symmetric, complementary, and interweaving patterns in a deliberate use of the whole sphere requires the same mix of preparation, presence, and flow. It must have been difficult to dial in the dials and millies this way. The patterns on the millies give me a vague sense of traveling through time, psychedelically mixing cultural ideas from ancient Greece and ancient America with more modern cultural and geometric motifs. It's almost like the rings are intended to be windows through which you can examine your normally subconscious cultural associations. That glass art itself is both ancient and new just gives another layer of context to this multilayered beast. I know this is an indulgent interpretation, but I got to say this is a fun piece to over-ponder!

#credoglass #oneillglass #marbles #glassart #headyglass by @sc0toma

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3 months ago

Robbie Lofland (@rl.dots) 2025 and 2024. Both of these marbles are filled with extremely well executed and unique structural elements, and both have a distinct style and palette you can immediately tell came from RLdots, but the one he made in 2024 has some additional significance to me. It was the third orb in the collection, purchased from @level42gallery during Marbles in the Mountains (thank you!), and it was the piece that made me realize how amazing dot work is to daydream into. It's the kind of art that makes your fusiform gyrus work overtime. Regarding the more recent marble, I can safely say I've seen nothing else like this color-filled phyllotactic flower dome. The surrounding dots that look like axes or audio waveforms give a really nice, sharp contrast to the flower (or seed?). These are both house favorites, and are permanently on display.

The background here is a lenticular postcard from @jenstark

#rldots #dotstacking #marbles #glassart #headyglass by @sc0toma

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4 months ago

Yoshinori Kondo and Mike Gong (2011). Please correct me if any of this is wrong, but my understanding is that this piece was the product of the first collab session between @yoshinorikondo and @original_gongster, and that it amazingly survived the big earthquake in Japan by riding it out in the kiln?! (See below for the actual situation). Whatever the serendipity of its creation, it's also really interesting seeing these early iterations of what would become signature elements of their art, and in a combination that gives it a totally unique feel. I get mid century Dr. Seuss vibes pondering this one, which is not something I've experienced in glass before. Thank you @__cl21 and @dogsnooop for letting me take care of this piece of modern glass art history!

#originalgongster #mikegong #yoshinorikondo #kondoglass #marbles by @sc0toma

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6 months ago

AKM 2025 (@pipemaker). To a large extent, the aesthetics here speak for themselves, but I also really like what this brilliantly recursive millie seems to be saying. It makes you think..about thinking... and patterns of thinking.. and how your perceptions fall into and build on those patterns. I also love how much of the structure of this pattern is hidden in fluorescence, kind of like how a lot of what gives rise to consciousness is hidden from us until we find or put ourselves in the right place at the right time. It's also kind of like some birds' feathers I suppose. I know I'm reading into this way too much, but I do feel like I was invited. Thank you AKM and @dogsnooop for this pondering opportunity!

#pipemaker #marbles #marblesofig #glass #glassofig #glassart #artglass by @sc0toma

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10 months ago

Piper Dan 2025 (@piperdanglass). This is my first Piper Dan piece, and I can't get over 1. That it took me this long, and 2. How much he sent it! Holy shit. So happy to have this insane example of his work. The craziest part I think is the lensed skyline around the top that you can see from the inside, but the portals are also rad and the buildings are meticulously made and placed. It's so easy to get lost in this scene. Also, I like the idea of cherry trees towering over and framing a metropolis. It's a better take on our relationship with nature than my often default existential dread.

#piperdan #marbles #marblesofig #glass #glassofig #glassart #artglass by @sc0toma

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a year ago

Trav, Daiki, and Bodor (2025) Check out this absolutely seamless mix of styles from @trav_themarbleman, @daiki_hori, and @bodorglass! The depth and shadows in the dots and folds are beautiful, and Daiki Hori's origami creations look like ceremonial hats over the pareidolia I get from Anton Bodor's dot sculptures. Trav's gravity well is awesome as always, and the metallic sheen is extra satisfying. Under UV it feels like a wormhole that would let out onto a roller skating rink in the 90s (not sure what it is about Daiki Hori's collabs that makes me feel like time traveling (maybe a sign of the times)). This piece feels personally historic to me, like a song that pulls up scents and entire states of mind.

#daikihori #travthemarbleman #bodorglass #marbles #marblesofig #glass #glassofig #glassart #artglass by @sc0toma

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a year ago

@daiki_hori and @murdocglass (2025). One of the coolest parts of the summer was seeing all the amazing collabs that came out of Fefee and Daiki Hori's trip to the US. This particular piece is the first collab that Murdoc and Daiki made together, and it's one of the most beautiful works of art I've seen. It's disorienting in person with all the little windows warping in new distorted copies of the folded glass patterns. The changing scale and the parallax give it so much visual flux, like movement is being amplified. Daiki Hori's patterns here remind me of nudibranchs or orchids, which either way is fittingly organic, as this style seems to be continuously evolving. I feel pretty lucky about this talisman of solidified and chiseled creativity. It almost feels like it might be a portal to the time of its creation.

#daikihori #murdocglass #marbles #marblesofig #glass #glassofig #glassart #artglass by @sc0toma

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a year ago

@sableglass 2024 and 2025. The first marble I purchased, and so my introduction to glass art, was this beautiful implosion, reticello, and rake from Sable. Even setting aside sentimentality, the first one here will always be one of my favorites. I've been drawn to his reticello and raked dots style since, but his other dot stacks, mushrooms, and millies are all amazing too. There is consistently a peaceful, precise flow to his work that's always satisfying to see and mirror.

#sableglass #joshsable #marbles #marblesofig #glass #glassofig #glassart #artglass by @sc0toma

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a year ago

@yoshinorikondo 2020. ππππππππππππππππ. A massive thank you to @jaded_collective for parting with this monumental piece from their incredible glass exhibit! This marble is so aggressively awesome. I'm always stunned into silence and then drawn way in by Yoshi's art. What I see keeps changing on this one, but the first things that stood out to me were the pi motif around the opal, the insect chiefs, and the floating elemental sprites. It's got this primitive gravity that's made more intense by its actual heft and by the year it was created, though I'm not sure how much that played into the work. Regardless, the feeling is palpable. I don't think this one is ever going to sink in; it's such an unreal piece!

#yoshinorikondo #kondoglass #marbles #marblesofig #glass #glassofig #glassart #artglass by @sc0toma

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a year ago

@roseroadskojima 2025. This is the first solo work I've seen from RoseRoads, and also the first I've seen of his fuming, which is such an unusual mix of textures, colors, and geometric forms that it looks like a completely new type of object, like a cosmic crinoid or some diatom made entirely of light. It reminds me of early life forms that were basically platonic solid shells filled with recursive patterns. I also really like all the orbiting mini artworks. I'm very happy to have this one to ponder! Thank you RoseRoads for creating this and thank you again to @dogsnooop for bringing so much creativity together at mibcon.

#roseroads #marbles #marblesofig #glass #glassofig #glassart #artglass by @sc0toma

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a year ago