Dale Chihuly at The Salk Institute

What a way to start my Friday morning. This is my second REAL life encounter with Chihuly’s work. The very first time, was at my all-time favorite, Victoria & Albert Museum in London. Chihuly’s large blue green chandelier was hung so magnificently at the rotunda entrance. I was in awe!

Today, I am so happy to see at least 9 different installations of his work at the Salk Institute here in San Diego. It’s definitely a double treat, since i am a HUGE fan of Louis Kahn’s architecture and Luis Barragan’s landscape work.

(Text descriptions below are taken from the self-guided tour map handed out at the tour.)

CATTAILS: Chihuly appreciates the interplay of hard surface, colored glass and natural elements. There is a hit-and-run element to his garden glass, and he enjoys moving the pieces around.

WHITE TOWER: Was first viewed in Jerusalem ten years ago. Bright, playful and colorful, Chihuly believes it is a fitting introductory element to the Salk installation. The glass was blown in France. The Tower is positioned to line up with the entrance to the main courtyard.

NEO-REEDS: Chihuly loves botanical gardens and conservatories, and sculpting these outdoor elements. His first outdoor botanical exhibit was in Chicago’s Garfield Park about 15 years ago.

MACCHIA: These are samples of the largest of his “set pieces”, that is objects intended to sit on something else. The word “macchia” means spotted in Italian, and Sculptor Italo Scanga, a longtime close Chihuly friend, helped him coin the term for these pieces.

THE SUN: Though it is one of Chihuly’s most well-known sculptures, this is the first time the incredibly vibrant piece is viewed with the Pacific ocean as a backdrop. Its choice seemed obvious to Chihuly, given the stunning Salk location. There are many physcial challenges to installing this huge piece in just a few days, and there was ongoing debate within the Chihuly team about whether it could be done. But Chihuly insisted, and here it is.

Work in progress of The Sun installation.

RED REEDS: The spear-like 8 to 12-foot reeds are produced by Chihuly glassblowers in a commercial glass factory in Finland. Every February the team rents the factory so they can produce extra-long glass pieces. The factory has special oversized annealing ovens on conveyor belts. After the reeds are blown they are placed in the ovens to slowly cool so they do not experience thermal shock. The vertical shape and bright color of the reeds was inspired by gardens.

FLOAT BOAT AND FLOATS: Chihuly purchases old wooden boat hulls and refurbishes them for this purpose. This particular boat was first seen at the de Young Museum, and is the largest one Chihuly uses. In the foreground, in front of the canted craft, spilling forth, are this dramatic floats. They range in dimension from grapefruit to beanbag chair-size. Chihuly loves using raw materials like wood, tin, and concrete. The Salk could not be a more perfect setting for his work.

GARDEN GLASS: All of Chihuly’s garden glass is the result of experimentation between the artist and his glassblowers. The piece are imagines, blown and refined and then he names them.

The installation was not complete when I went this morning. I have yet to see the North Chandelier and South Chandelier. Hopefully someone will email me some photos and I can add to this posting.

I think most of the tours are sold out…but you may want to give it a shot. Here is the web link! Enjoy!!