Did Ya See?

Fire pistons are a clever way to make fire, using extreme and quick compression of air to rapidly rise temperature inside the piston igniting a piece of tinder.  This one is particularly nice, being compact and machine-tooled from high grade aluminum.

With a single push, tinder placed in the end of the piston is spontaneously ignited by the heat of compression, instantly becoming a glowing ember with no more effort than lighting a match. Literally, fire with air.  The new FireStar features precision CNC manufacturing and state of the art compression fire starting technology!

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Seattle artist Etsuko Ichikawa works in an unusual medium.   Charring forms and designs onto a surface with molten glass (the sort and amount usually used in glass blowing).  Video after the cut.

These works are glass pyrographs that are made by drawing hot molten glass, leaving the immediate charred tracery of my movement with the heat. It is a way of capturing a fleeting moment and eternalizing it, and it gives the viewer the opportunity to see a gesture.

[vimeo]https://vimeo.com/27252835[/vimeo]

This aspect of her work is also presented a performance piece call “Firebird”.

Via Etsuko Ichikawa

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