Videos of glass blowing may be a dime a dozen, but there’s something different about the 1959 Academy Award-winning documentary, Glas. The entire 10-minute short is set to an occasionally eerie mixture of jazz, bebop, and the metallic punctuations of industry at work.
You get to see masters of their craft sculpting crystal like putty in direct contrast to the cold, systematic automation of bottle making machines in the Netherlands. And even if you’ve never blown glass a day in your life, it’s nearly impossible not to feel some sense of solidarity in this classic battle between man and machine. Head on over to Aeon’s new film site to watch the mesmerizing masterpiece in its entirety. [Aeon]