Art and Craft in Kunstglaser
Kunstglaser is a documentary that explores the work of eccentric stained glass maker Norbert Sattler.
The film provides a portrait of Sattler, a stained glass craftsman in Nova Scotia. The film opens with beautiful shots of the natural world--burbling streams, trees, a river, etc, before going into Sattler's workshop. There is a shot of Sattler's face through a piece of amber glass as he examines his work. He explains his creative philosophy, saying he always asks himself how he can transform things into glass. There are many shots of him working away at his craft--glass being scored and cracked, filed, etc. Norbert explicitly notes that he is not an artist, but rather a craftsmen who helps other artists transform their work into glass. From there we meet one of his collaborators as she designs a new piece. He says working with an outsider creates a much better product because they see his medium differently. Sattler believes as a craftsman he does "what an artist cannot do"--his incredible work is testament.
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Viewers can almost feel each break and score, holding their breath each time a delicate shape is somehow conjured from an unwieldy sheet. Perhaps most jarring is shot of a completed piece of glasswork, that is promptly smashed with a hammer because it is not perfect. There is horror in that it is hard to believe such a beautiful object would be destroyed but there is also respect for the commitment to artistic vision. Further, it helps the audience better understand glass as a medium. It feels timeless yet it is simultaneously highly transient--one drop and the entire piece is gone. And, as the shot of the glass breaking shows, there is beauty even in this lack of permanence and the destruction itself. The viewer is exposed to every facet of glasswork, which makes Sattler's love of its intricacy