Destruction of The Precious
by Bridget Provanfeaturing Nick Jennings
Additional Information:
Destruction of the Precious
Location: the basement of the house my parents just bought and are currently renovating.
For this project I took videos of my boyfriend, Nick, destroying various glass pieces that were sentimental to me for one reason or another. I documented the destruction process of my precious glass creations from a few different angles, some in slow-mo, real speed, and photographs.
The objects he destroyed:
The first bubble I puntied at RISD sophomore year
One of the largest colored vases I have been able to make
The first clear cup I made at Bill Riker’s studio freshman year
A wonky drop vase that was hard to save and had cool optics
A black sparkly blank I was planning to engrave and blow again later
A red and clear solid paper weight, one of the first and only round paper weights I have made
The first cane cup I made Sophomore year
The first bubble I made at RISD sophomore year
The tools used to destroy the glass pieces:
I had a selection of construction equipment for him to chose from to break the glass pieces I gave to him. I set up the pieces for him, the tool selection, the metal pedestal, protective gear, and plastic sheet on the ground in the basement of the house my parents recently purchased and is undergoing a lot of construction that both me and my boyfriend are getting to help my parents do. I told him which pieces to destroy and he chose how and with which tool.
Although this isn’t very important I feel its important to note that all of those construction tools have been in my family for more than two generations and have been cared for, used, repaired, and passed down from my great grandfathers to my grandfathers to my father.
The face shield, goggles, and gloves he was wearing in the project were all protection that was imposed by me, and I required him to wear these items. The construction boots, jeans, and dark t-shirt were all just the articles of clothing he was wearing that day.
More Info:
Right now this piece was very important for me, it helped my accept the fact that my time at RISD is coming to an end and that I have no chance to go back in that glass studio at RISD after my hand injury completely heals. It also helped my grieve what my hand injury has cost me mentally and physically and I feel the mourning sounds of the broken glass echos this grieving feeling.
I tried to break one of my own pieces, a red rondel with a handle, the first glass piece I made on my exchange to Australia last spring. I ended up sitting there with the tool raised above the piece being unable to break it on my own. I needed my boyfriend to actually come over and help me hit the piece with a tool hard enough to break it, and it brought me to tears to do so.
However when I got my boyfriend to break the pieces I found it poetic and more about grieving my situation then creating a new loss from destroying a piece with my own hands. I found beauty in the noise created and the shards scattered all over the floor.
Cleaning up and the future:
When cleaning up the shards and pulling some glass shards out of the wall from where they were imbedded it felt like I was cleaning away some of my regrets and ‘what ifs’. The plastic tarp I laid out on the floor was useless and just got swept up with the rest of the glass. The large impact on the wall from the solid red and clear paperweight is still in the wall. Putting most of the pieces into the trash was sad, I know I could have fixed these objects but it felt like it would have ruined the sentiment.
I did save the one piece that I personally broke. I plan on using conservation methods to fix it. I am exploring traditional conservation methods or kintsugi conservation techniques.
This project is and was a very important process for me.
Destruction of the Precious
Location: the basement of the house my parents just bought and are currently renovating.
For this project I took videos of my boyfriend, Nick, destroying various glass pieces that were sentimental to me for one reason or another. I documented the destruction process of my precious glass creations from a few different angles, some in slow-mo, real speed, and photographs.
The objects he destroyed:
The first bubble I puntied at RISD sophomore year
One of the largest colored vases I have been able to make
The first clear cup I made at Bill Riker’s studio freshman year
A wonky drop vase that was hard to save and had cool optics
A black sparkly blank I was planning to engrave and blow again later
A red and clear solid paper weight, one of the first and only round paper weights I have made
The first cane cup I made Sophomore year
The first bubble I made at RISD sophomore year
The tools used to destroy the glass pieces:
I had a selection of construction equipment for him to chose from to break the glass pieces I gave to him. I set up the pieces for him, the tool selection, the metal pedestal, protective gear, and plastic sheet on the ground in the basement of the house my parents recently purchased and is undergoing a lot of construction that both me and my boyfriend are getting to help my parents do. I told him which pieces to destroy and he chose how and with which tool.
Although this isn’t very important I feel its important to note that all of those construction tools have been in my family for more than two generations and have been cared for, used, repaired, and passed down from my great grandfathers to my grandfathers to my father.
The face shield, goggles, and gloves he was wearing in the project were all protection that was imposed by me, and I required him to wear these items. The construction boots, jeans, and dark t-shirt were all just the articles of clothing he was wearing that day.
More Info:
Right now this piece was very important for me, it helped my accept the fact that my time at RISD is coming to an end and that I have no chance to go back in that glass studio at RISD after my hand injury completely heals. It also helped my grieve what my hand injury has cost me mentally and physically and I feel the mourning sounds of the broken glass echos this grieving feeling.
I tried to break one of my own pieces, a red rondel with a handle, the first glass piece I made on my exchange to Australia last spring. I ended up sitting there with the tool raised above the piece being unable to break it on my own. I needed my boyfriend to actually come over and help me hit the piece with a tool hard enough to break it, and it brought me to tears to do so.
However when I got my boyfriend to break the pieces I found it poetic and more about grieving my situation then creating a new loss from destroying a piece with my own hands. I found beauty in the noise created and the shards scattered all over the floor.
Cleaning up and the future:
When cleaning up the shards and pulling some glass shards out of the wall from where they were imbedded it felt like I was cleaning away some of my regrets and ‘what ifs’. The plastic tarp I laid out on the floor was useless and just got swept up with the rest of the glass. The large impact on the wall from the solid red and clear paperweight is still in the wall. Putting most of the pieces into the trash was sad, I know I could have fixed these objects but it felt like it would have ruined the sentiment.
I did save the one piece that I personally broke. I plan on using conservation methods to fix it. I am exploring traditional conservation methods or kintsugi conservation techniques.
This project is and was a very important process for me.
Bridget Provan
RISD, BFA, Glass, Spring 2020 Final.
RISD, BFA, Glass, Spring 2020 Final.