Can you create something artistic in the process of destroying? Probably not for most of us. But totally yes for Simon Berger. Give him a hammer and a chisel and Simon will smash you a glass portrait. Literally, smash!
For Simon, glass is a material that has so much potential in art, and he believes he has found a technique which is probably the most unique in the [entire] world. The artist starts a piece with a photo of a model. He then sketches its outlines on a panel of glass. From there, Simon marks the spots he doesn’t want to break and the ones he wants to edit a little. The best glass for these projects is something that doesn’t break immediately after being hit, like safety glass.
Below is Simon’s recent work presented in Philipp Brogli’s gallery Artstübli in Basel, Switzerland. It is portrait when you view it far away. But when you stand in front of it, that is just a piece of smashed glass! Very creative.
