Glass is not a relic of a forgotten past, collecting dust on grandparents windowsills and abandoned in museums. Glass is alive. Glass is dangerous. And today, glass is a radical material for confronting the digital era. Welcome to see Dreamweaver exhibition to The Venice Glass Week 2024!

Essis by Lasilinkki in Kuopio crafted the monumental, over two-meter flat glass sculptures. In their studio, which specializes in architectural glass, they craft high-quality works with rare artisanal expertise. Multidisciplinary collaboration is a vital component of this project, bringing together unique skills to realize the vision of Dreamweaver.

We no longer live in a reality of our own making. Our world is now algorithmically curated, designed by invisible codes that decide what we see, how we feel, and even what we believe. We cling to technology like an infant to its mother, seeking comfort, validation, and guidance. Technology is our own reflection, both in its best and worst forms. It’s the mirror of our desires, fears, and failures, wrapped in shiny, seductive screens.

Are we becoming passive in this relationship? Are we surrendering our agency to a system that shows us only what it wants us to see? This is the question at the heart of Dreamweaver. Glass has always shown us the invisible—the world of cells beneath the surface of our skin and the universe hidden below the night sky. As a material in art, glass embodies the intangible layers of existence. It reflects the delicate balance between visibility and invisibility, making it the perfect medium to explore the deeper, immaterial dimensions of life.

The exhibition features sculptures that fuse plasma electricity, ethically sourced Finnish leaf gold, and cutting-edge technology. The gold, provided by Kultaus Oy Snellman, represents the finest in Finnish craftsmanship and ethical sourcing. The technological aspects are handled by Aalto University’s team: Jarkko Takala, Tung Bui, Ken Burridge, and Vivienne Wang.

At the heart of Dreamweaver is a two-meter glass unicorn created at the Essis by Lasilinkki studio’s in Kuopio, symbol of fantasy and dreams. But let’s not kid ourselves—this is not a pretty fairy tale. This unicorn reflects artificial intelligence’s stolen dreams, scattered and refracted into the physical world. The light bends through the glass like the distorted images we now see through our screens: beautiful, yes – but ultimately manipulated, twisted, fragmented. The Unicorn reflects that there is a kind of seeing that goes beyond looking. Sculpture invites youto gaze and touch, to feel a deeper connection. It calls you to engage with it, to read with your hands the hidden codes embedded within the glass. “We must wake up, but it’s too beautiful.” Like the artificial dreams AI projects back at us, it’s hiding a deeper truth: Technology is not passive, and neither should we be.

I reject the notion that glass should stay polite and quiet. In Dreamweaver, glass dares to challenge what we think we know. Glass is capable of shattering conceptually: It fractures the illusions we live by: Look around. We’re living in an era where technology is shaping our very existence that is like glass – something supposedly fragile – Strong, yet vulnerable. Transparent, yet concealing power.

Inside of the plasma-electric sculpture pulses ethically sourced gold from the untouched wilderness of Finnish Lapland. Gold, provided by master gilder Raimo Snellman and his son Mikko, is hidden within the glass, where it illuminates as a symbol of our connection to the earth, to heritage, and to responsible craftsmanship.

Sini Majuri, Dreamweaver
SpazioB
Campiello della Pescheria 4a, 30141 Murano
14th – 22nd September 2024

Opening 14th September 18 PM

Meet the team 19th September

See an article about the project from YLE NEWS