"A Day in the Glasshouse," a new commission in the artist's immersive "Optical Resonance" series, celebrates an exclusive range of age statement single malt scotch whiskies entitled the Glasshouse Collection
Lachlan Turczan’s Mesmerizing Water and Light Installation for The Glen Grant
“A Day in the Glasshouse,” a new commission in the artist’s immersive “Optical Resonance” series, celebrates an exclusive range of age statement single malt scotch whiskies entitled the Glasshouse Collection
Today, The Glen Grant has announced their prestigious Glasshouse Collection, a covetable line of age statement permanent portfolio additions. To celebrate the release, the single malt scotch whisky brand commissioned a trio of new works from LA-based Lachlan Turczan, who COOL HUNTING first met in advance of Milan Design Week 2023, where the artist unveiled the profoundly enveloping Shaped by Water installation in collaboration with Google. Turczan’s mesmerizing new installation, entitled A Day in the Glasshouse, continues the artist’s immersive Optical Resonance series of cymatic sculptures, which weaves light and water into one stunning synesthetic experience.
We were able to explore these works near the artist’s studio in Downtown LA’s Arts District in advance of the announcement. For others to understand Turczan’s pieces without seeing them requires an attempt at mental visualization. “There are three vessels, each of which is 44-inches tall and two-feet wide. Each one holds about two or three cups of water,” Turczan tells COOL HUNTING. “Each is then vibrated with a different frequency through a transducer mounted within, and illuminated with slightly different color temperature lights.” With each one, Turczan utilizes variations in light temperature and frequency to pay homage to the three new single malts, and even allude to their specific characteristics.
These tactile, technical components—downward light upon water, which acts as a lens for illumination—create something both unknowable and ethereal. “The vessel’s parabolic shape transforms each pool into a liquid optic, which then refracts and reflects back into a focal point above, where we’ve placed a lens and secondary focusing element,” he explains. In essence, Turczan collaborates with the natural reactions and “coaxes them into different frameworks.”
Familiar with his work, The Glen Grant approached Turczan and asked if he could find ways to complement the messaging around their new age statement single malts. “They sent me the three new releases and I got to nose and taste them, and then create my own synesthetic understanding of each,” he says. “These vessels are ‘choreograph-able.’ They have the ability to have different frequencies played through them. I know very well what each frequency looks like and what the corresponding color should be.” In fact, Turczan developed his own artistic palette based on associated frequencies and corresponding light colors.
The experience of viewing the trio of works that compose A Day in the Glasshouse changes from day to night. “This installation operates at both times of day. It’s two pieces: light and water,” Turczan says. “Night prefaces the light art aspect so much more. The water is prefaced in the daytime. You are seeing the pool itself so much more. At night, you are seeing this celestial explosion overhead.”
You play around and find the magic. It jumps out at you as you go.
Lachlan Turczan
Regarding the vibration frequency, and other technical attributes, Turczan says they’re born from substantial engineering, and frequent tinkering. “So many times, people come in and ask how I knew the math behind all of these elements,” he says. “If you have the tools in your studio, you play around and find the magic. It jumps out at you as you go. You experiment. A lot of it is trial and error.”
The inception of the vessels dates back to the origins of Optical Resonance. Turczan is continuing to explore new ways to keep them alive—because he is certain the options are endless. “When you are working in water and light, and you present them in a specific context, there’s a whole other gamut through which you can imagine them,” he says. He credits this particular iteration with so much personal advancement in his understanding of the movement of light.
Every sensorial element has been developed to act as an invitation for the viewer. “It’s very important to bring these works into your own lived experience,” he says. “In this particular context, we looked at the standard pedestal height for a sculpture and it transformed into this idea of elevating and upholding water. As simple as it is, bringing this into your lived experience is an important and powerful thing to me.”
Though Turczan traditionally invites viewers in for an unbiased experience through which they can filter their own interpretations, this series differs in that each directly parallels his own interpretation of a new release from The Glen Grant. It also meant moving away from his typically use of cande-lit tones. “The Glent Grant 30 Year Old, it’s their Moonlight release. The complementary work has a cool, moonlight feel to it; it’s almost icy. I used this specific amber light, with a golden hue, for the 25 Year Old. The 21 Year Old is the youngest and so the light reflects that, too,” he says. Remarkably, the 30 Year Old represents the oldest permanent portfolio addition from the beloved Speyside brand.
Many of those lucky enough to see A Day in the Glasshouse may be unfamiliar with water as an element in art—as opposed to, say, paint upon canvas, or solid sculptural components. “There is so much to learn from water,” Turczan says of its allure. “I think I’ll never exhaust all of the potential inherent in it. It is the most abundant medium—and I think it is a chaotic phenomenon.” As his vessel’s vibrations are never twice the same, they reinforce water’s unpredictable nature.
Ultimately, even the most compelling photographs do not adequately convey an in-person experience with the three sculptures. In many ways, the imagery is more of an enticement to see the project first hand. Fortunately, The Glen Grant is orchestrating a few forthcoming opportunities for people to engage with A Day in the Glasshouse and allow it to resonate with them on a personal level as their own portfolio does.