A pipe is an art object with a practical function. With their
gracious curves and vibrant colors, the glass pipes produced by
Stonecutter Glasswerx in South Lake Tahoe might seem to value form over
function. But glass artist Jace Poletti, co-owner with Chas Tanner of
Stonecutter, says, “They’re 100 percent
practical.”
He explains that a good pipe must have a nice controlled air flow,
no potential places for pinches or clogs, but not an unregulated flow
that might choke a smoker. It’s a delicate balance.
Stonecutter pipes are available throughout the region, including at
local shops Art Dogs and Grace, the Melting Pot World Emporium, and
Hippies in Sparks.
Poletti is a Tahoe native who spent about a year, beginning in 1996,
studying glass blowing with renowned glass artists Justin Hurlin, Darby
Holm and Carston Carlysle in Oregon. He’s been blowing glass ever
since.
“I learned a lot from those guys,” he says, referring to
his mentors. “More knowledge than I could use, but I also learned
the love for it. … I’ve been doing this 16 hours a day,
seven days a week, for almost 12 years straight. Before I had kids, it
was like, I love this so much, why do anything else? Why not do
it?”
The Stonecutter pipes range in price from $20 basic
pipes—“For the broke dudes of the world,” says
Poletti—to elaborate custom water pipes that could cost $2,500 or
more. In addition, Stonecutter Glasswerx makes dome lights, incense
burners and more.
“If it’s glass, we’ll make it,” says
Poletti.
The name Stonecutter Glasswerx comes from one of the most common
inspirations of American artists who came to age in the 1990s: The
Simpsons, specifically the classic episode “Homer the
Great.” In that episode, the Stonecutters is a secret society, an
obvious parody of the Freemasons.
Poletti takes much of his creative inspiration from graffiti art.
Many of his pipes have the vivid combinations of colors and fluid lines
of graffiti writing.
Despite his emphasis on practical function, Poletti’s pipe
designs take many creative left turns. The shapes curve in unexpected
directions. There are bright stripes, and colorful bubbles and lumps.
Some of his pipes look like surreal Wonderland caterpillars.
“Sometimes you start with an idea, and then you get another
idea,” he says. “You have to leave room for the extra
creativity you don’t account for when you start.”
But, for Poletti, the creativity of the design is secondary to the
functionality of the pipe.
“But if people buy it for the flashing lights, then
they’ll accidentally get a quality product,” he says.
Though his pipes are often flashy and many even incorporate the
Stonecutter logo—a bubble letter “SC”—many
customers who buy his pipes might not even know that they’re
purchasing a locally made artwork.
“I’ll go over to somebody I just met in Reno’s
house, and they’ll have one of my pieces just sitting on their
coffee table,” says Poletti. “I won’t tell them that
I made it, but it’s like, ‘That’s tight! I love
Reno!’”