American Artist Series: High Tech Glassworks

High Tech Glassworks captures the hearts and lungs of smokers alike with their fun and functional glass.

High Tech Glassworks is a cutting-edge scientific glass company out of Van Nuys, California. High Tech Glassworks has been a formidable force in the glass industry for several years now, constructing high-quality pieces and a loyal following. One of their most popular is their “Cheese Baby Bottle,” adapting faberge function into a small and playful design. High Tech Glassworks has also created several rigs inspired by popular drinks - such as the “Slime A Rita,” the “Spritech,” and the “Aristona.” If you’re looking for high quality functional glass at a reasonable price, look no further than High Tech Glassworks.

Smoke Cartel was thrilled to speak with Kevin, the GM over at High Tech Glassworks to discuss their products and place in the industry.

 

SC: How did High Tech Glassworks get started as a company? What initially drew you guys to fire up the flame?

K: Being heavily involved in the MMJ industry, the business aspect of a glass company is what sparked our interest in the glass industry. But once we became involved the passion for the art and the uniqueness of this culture is what fueled us to stay and continue to push new innovations and create our craft.

 

SC: Was there a specific moment that you realized High Tech Glassworks was really taking off?

K: Shortly after the release of the baby bottle, we noticed our Instagram and email inboxes were filling up. We received so much positive feedback from new fans and we knew we were onto something.

 

SC: What do you call the two-toned color wrapping technique that adorns the Bi-Polar Banger Hangers? It seems similar to encalmo, but the inside of the glass is a different color as well. What inspired the use of that technique?

K: The technique used to create our Bi-Polar Banger Hangers is called "Graal Tech". You take one colored section and wrap it in frit. Once you have the section with one color of glass on top and another on the bottom, you sandblast heavily through the first layer to expose the second. Our inspiration for that technique; and the guy who actually taught us that technique is Mothership's Jake C.

 

SC: Much of your glass is influenced by beverages and video games. How do you select a subject to work with?

K: Relatability. Our first foot into this door was the baby bottle in which the owner Eli was influenced by because he was surrounded by them all day being a father. We then realized the humor in having the smoke look like milk filling up in the bottle. And we kept that momentum and creativity going from the music we enjoy, games we play, etc.

 

SC: How do you balance form and function?

K: Once we find the form we're aiming for, we implement the functionality.

 

SC: The Cheese Bottles are my personal favorite High Tech pieces. What was the process of adapting faberge-egg function into such an entertaining form? What were the challenges?

K: It was a very fun process learning how to do all of the necessary seals properly. Once we got the technique down, we just had to mold it into our shape... which took quite a bit of trial and error.

 

Interested in High Tech Glassworks? Check out Smoke Cartel's selection of functionals and headies!