nwasianweekly.com
Dec. 22, 2007

Photo by Terry Rishell/Provided by the Dale Chihuly Studio

One of Dale Chihuly’s renowned glassworks, “Persian Chandelier, 2007,” at the Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in Pittsburgh, Pa.

Chihuly in Macau: an interview with the artist

By Ann-Marie Stillion
Northwest Asian Weekly

Part artist and part force of nature, Dale Chihuly, the man renowned for reinventing glass as an art medium in the U.S., recently returned from overseeing the installation of a new piece in the new MGM Grand casino resort on the Chinese peninsula of Macau.

The MGM Grand Macau opened its doors to the public on Dec. 18, and visitors were treated to the spectacular sight of the newest Chihuly glass installation, set in the lobby. We recently talked with Chihuly, a few days after his return from his visit to Asia, about his new artwork in Macau.

NWAW: Describe how the acquisition in Macau came about. What is it called?

Chihuly: It came about because of my relationship with the MGM. I have done three or four other commissions for them. So they got a hold of me when they were designing this project. And I ended up designing two different installations. We haven’t titled it yet, and I don’t know if we ever will.

NWAW: Where was the piece made? Can you describe some of the challenges of producing art on large scale and distributing it worldwide?

Chihuly: It was made in Seattle. It’s always more difficult when you are doing some things abroad. I don’t know why. Just little things can turn into big things. … We have never done anything quite like this. That is, it is spread out over a large area, and the stainless steel tubing that holds it up is exposed. So when you look up there you can see mostly glass but (also) some of the structure, or armature, as we call it. We had no problem with building it over here, full scale. … I went over about 10 days ago and it looked very good. Unfortunately, the other piece that goes behind the registration desk, which is made up of 52 translucent paintings, wasn’t finished yet. And that’s up now and looking good, so I am told. I guess I will have to go back to see it myself because it wasn’t ready. The closest thing to it … was the piece I did for Kew Gardens in London. And that was a temporary installation. It was more yellow and orange and a lot smaller. But that was really the beginning of the concept of how the whole thing went together.

NWAW: It seems that you have many Asian influences and have talked about the influence of Ikebana. Are there specific Asian glass artists or glass movements that you relate to?

Chihuly: Yes, there are. I went to see Zhang Huan in Shanghai while I was there right after I was in Macau. … He employs 100 people, which is how many I employ, and he had a big studio like I do. Each studio that he had was working on a different type of project. And everything about the work and the concept was really good. I knew China had some really interesting artists, but I didn’t expect to see anything as fantastic as this guy.
One other artist I would like to tell you about is Loretta Yang and her partner Chang Yi. They are a couple that I ran into when I was in Beijing about 15 years ago. And he was the director in film and she was an important actress. They were making films and started making glass art — they have been very successful.
They now have 700 employees in Shanghai. And I think they have 70 galleries and three restaurants. She does the design work. He runs the business side of it. … Being there such a short time, I really had to pick and choose what really sounded good.

NWAW: You have said that an art piece came from some part of your body, like saying that “Nuutajarvi” came from “below your stomach.” What part of you evoked the piece in Macau?

Chihuly: I don’t know. Maybe it would be in my brain since it (the piece) is overhead.

NWAW: Everyone in different cultures responds to art in unique ways. Have you experienced distinctive qualities in your Asian audience?

Chihuly: What comes to mind is that Asian people have a great eye and that they are very careful as to what they buy. They really like to look at things and think about things and they usually make a good choice.

NWAW: You often describe pieces growing or becoming once you begin, taking directions on their own. Did you find this the case for Macau? If so, what new direction did it take?

Chihuly: Yes. It got more depth in it, went out further. Really, we didn’t expect to expose as much steel as we did. Instead of looking at it and figuring out a way to cover it, as quite normally would be the case, we decided to let it go because we like the way it looked.

NWAW: Your work seems to be strongly influenced by place. Can you characterize the influence of the geography or culture of Macau?

Chihuly: It’s not so much the culture as it is the space. To look at the drawings, the models of what the casino was going to be, it is more designing it around that and less around the culture.

NWAW: Anything else you would like to say to our readers?
Chihuly: I hope that they have a chance to enjoy the piece, that it makes going in and out of the entrance more enjoyable than if it didn’t have the artwork in the lobby.

Ann-Marie Stillion can be reached at annmarie@nwasianweekly.com.

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