Vibrant Shadows in the Art World: Custom Glass Pipes Boom Underground

Thanks to a recent growing trend of custom glass pipes, cannabis users can smoke in style! These pipes boast unique designs and an attractive, engaging appearance.

Although they’re not currently recognized as “legitimate” art, there’s a great demand for custom glass pipes. Many online stores offer custom, hand-blown glass pipes and bongs. The Degenerate Art: The Art and Culture of Glass Pipes is devoted to the process of glassblowing. Custom glass pipes are widely available online in myriad quirky color combinations and shapes, some even fashioned after animals. Prices range anywhere from about fifteen to a hundred thousand dollars depending on the artist and complexity of design. (Hint: Chong’s products go upward of a thousand dollars. They’re rare since his line was discontinued.) Smaller businesses such as local stores and glass workshops even take commissions for new designs!

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What started off as friendly competition between glassblowers has become a huge underground phenomenon. According to the 2011 documentary Degenerate Art: The Art and Culture of Glass Pipes, glassblowing custom pipes is a billion-dollar industry, and there are many thousand glassblowers in the U.S. The process of designing and creating these pipes is widely regarded as an art form, yielding a showpiece rather than a mere means to an end.

And even though they’re decorative, these pipes are designed for use. One glassblower from Degenerate Art even proved this by throwing one of his pipes on the ground to show it wouldn’t break!

There’s no denying that the industry is already huge. But starting a few weeks ago, custom glass pipes are bringing another wave of scrutiny. A good amount of people are still just now learning about it. “People may know what a glass pipe is but they have no idea that there’s this whole subculture, that people are making multi-thousand dollar pieces or that they’re beautiful, amazing objects that really have never been seen before,” the documentary describes.

So why not bring these pipes into the mainstream? Well some companies are making the bold step in that direction. One online store that comes to mind, marijuanapackaging.com, has begun selling custom glass pipes along with manufactured glass pipes. However, the unfortunate truth is that many glassblowers making pipes face obstacles from federal laws.

Weed guru Tommy Chong famously created a line of bongs and pipes called “Chong’s Glass,” which ran until he was arrested for distributing paraphernalia in 2003. Unfortunately many other glassblowers had been arrested on similar charges. Although this affected people in the industry, it hasn’t fazed them. After taking the situation into consideration and carefully adapting, they got back on their feet. Today, there are many thousand glassblowers in the U.S. and over a billion dollars in the practice.

Many glassblowers have college degrees, but there are few prerequisites. People interested in making their own glass pipes usually become apprentices for glassblowers. A few just jump in. After all, there’s a booming market waiting for them right now. They might still have to be surreptitious, but their perseverance in the face of prosecution has proven the industry nigh invincible. And many are confident that someday these intricate works of art will end up where they belong—in galleries and museums.

In the meantime, they’re giving many happy cannabis smokers an aesthetically pleasing way to their high.

For more information on glassblowing custom pipes, watch the documentary Degenerate Art.