Hello World of Bongs Community, today we talk with Dylan Kelley (DBK Glass), creator of the new Avant-Garde Tech. Stay tuned!
WHAT GOT YOU INTERESTED IN GLASS IN THE FIRST PLACE?
I was a Potter and a sculptor in high school and right after I graduated. I worked at Van Briggle pottery doing demos and cleaning up pieces to get them ready for glazing. In 2001 I bought a National torch, some small tools and some glass from a friend and started teaching myself what I could from the glass I saw in stores. Needless to say I had no clue what I was doing. A couple years later, after I had gotten pretty efficient at encasing and making my own rods, a blower named Karl Thacker showed me inside out, a reversal wigwag section and a retticello. From that point I was able to reverse-engineer pretty much everything that I saw on the internet.
WHERE DID YOU LEARN YOUR SKILLS?
Lots of mistakes and cracks.
DO YOU CREDIT ANY OTHER GLASS BLOWER WITH HELPING YOU ACHIEVE YOUR SUCCESS?
I’m a bit if a lone wolf but I wouldn’t be the artist that I am today without illuzion Glass Gallery. They allowed me to explore my skills and supported me throughout the past 8 or so years. Karl Thacker gave me the keys to my career and had the most influence on my glass. I also got a few good tips from randoms throughout the years.
TALK TO ME A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR STYLE.
I’m inspired by the versatility of glass. Your imagination is the limit. I love sculpture but aesthetics and function are just as important. To me it’s really about finding a balance between form and function which I think I’ve nailed with the new tech I’ve created.
WHAT MATERIALS DO YOU MOST LIKE TO WORK WITH?
I’ve really been digging the expanding color palette of borosilicate. Molten Aura in particular has been making colors I’ve been dreaming about since I’ve started.
WHAT’S THE MOST FAVORITE PIECE YOU’VE EVER MADE?
I’ve got a lot, it’s hard to choose. The chick in a bong was a fun one. In 2013 I made a sculpture of a girl in a hippie outfit who was the perk and she was holding a micro functional version of the bong that she was in. The miniature was the first of its kind and the function video we made with me trying it is possibly the most viewed weed video ever. My other favorites are the Winnie the Pooh bong, the Matrix collab with The Wisco Kid and the Mario Bros Lakitu rainbow rig.
I haven’t made it yet. Which way was it again?
AND WHAT WAS YOUR PROUDEST MOMENT?
Realizing I discovered a new glass tech that allows me to use all of my skill set. I’ve been working on this creation for the past year and am getting ready to release the new product line Avant-Garde to the world very soon. My creation is going to revolutionize the cannabis and glass industry.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO NEW GLASS ARTISTS?
Keep your job and start looking for another that pays better. Glass blowing is expensive and takes self motivation to be successful. You have to put in the hours to see results. Some artists are lucky enough to find a product that sells itself. Others have to find their path.
WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE STRAIN/EXTRACT, AND WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE PIECE TO DAB IT IN?
Any weed or dab in an Avant-Garde rig.
IF YOU COULD MAKE YOUR “DREAM” PIECE, WHAT WOULD IT LOOK LIKE?
Making what you want is the dream. I have a few things I’d like to make for myself, and as an artist. A decentralize/political series is in my future for sure.
WHO WOULD YOU LIKE, MOST OF ALL IN THIS WORLD, TO HIT YOU UP FOR A PIECE, AND WHAT PIECE WOULD YOU MAKE FOR HIM/HER?
Maybe Snoop Dogg…. He needs a better bong line. No offense.
WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR GLASS ARTISTRY IN THE CANNABIS INDUSTRY?
Honestly the new tech I created is going to blow minds! Avant-Garde Tech is so versatile, it’s a whole new way to build function and incorporate art into not only smoking devices but glass of any kind. We’re trying to integrate as much technology into glass as possible. Now anything can be a rig, pipe, bong, whatever…. What’s in the future? “Where we’re going we dont need…roads.”
IF YOU WERE SHIPWRECKED ON A DESERT ISLAND AND YOU COULD ONLY HAVE THREE ESSENTIAL PIECES WITH YOU, WHICH WOULD YOU CHOOSE, AND WHY?
Well my wife for sure. Then two classic DBK extra large egg pipes. They could be used as a pipe, tool, weapon and be very durable doing so. Yeah…..
WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE MUSIC TO WORK TO/DAB TO?
I’ve gone most of my career working in silence. Currently I let my shop mates pick the music. Otherwise I usually work listening to conspiracy theory videos and independent news.
THANK YOU, DBK GLASS, FOR THIS NICE INTERVIEW! WE CAN´T WAIT TO !
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