I've created this guide to help those of you who are collecting my older Intergalactic Series (IG) series work to identify which of your pieces are from what IG series. The underlined statements are the main differences between each part of the series (PICTURES COMING SOON). Thank you all for your love and support along the way! <3 =D
*UPDATED NOV. 2022*
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•Intergalactic 0.0•
2006-2010
My work in Intergalactic-themed glass started in around 2006 but it didn't really get consistent until I moved to the Shackman Studios in Colorado in 2010 and decided 'why don't I just make space all the time?!" This is when I made a conscious decision to solidify the Intergalactic 'theme' as my main body of work (and as an ongoing series), and so I picked out several elements I was fond of, such as the Jesse Taj UFO murrine and the three caramel crescent moons, and started using them more consistently. This was in May 2010, so I (currently) refer to everything made before then as IG0.0 for posterity although at the time it was all just experimental.
The survival rate of these earlier pieces was pretty low as most of them were extremely thick; plus I was experimenting with a variety of techniques and a few wacky (but ever-so enticing!) colors (ExpGreen#5 anyone?). There cannot be more than 25 Intergalactic *surviving* space-themed pieces from this IG0.0/Pre-Shackman era (and I'm likely being generous with that number), and all have a variety of murrine and shaping in them as I was experimenting with different looks and styles during this time. I used much less gold so the pieces will be more black/blue than black/green, and I was signing most everything 'N8' and the year with a ti-pen. Many of these are on my old www.glasspipes.org/N8 gallery if you are interested in seeing the roots of the IG series. 'Deep Space Four(9)Teen' was the very first IG piece I ever created, and JFTR, if anyone has leads to this piece, please contact me for a reward.
•Intergalactic 1.0•
2010-2013
This part of the series makes up a large part of my IG work and can be differentiated because the scenes include a mixture of other artists murrine, as well as the first few of my own. The IG1.0 scenes that included murrine usually had a UFO in the scene, made either by Jesse Taj (w/3 alien heads inside, used mostly from 2010-2012) or made by Mr. Gray (no aliens, used mostly from 2012-2013). These scenes also included various honeycomb murrine (and imprints) among other traditional (often pipe-making) patterns and designs such as wigwags, often made by myself and other artists. I've also used murrine by Nathan Middleton 'blue/white moons' and his 'saturn scene' murrine I believe as well (as external marbles usually), and a few Erik Anders 'fumed grids', as well as 'multi-layered furnace-dipped rod' within the scenes. Most of the scenes that included murrine, also included three caramel crescent moons. Search the hashtag #triplemoongang for pics of pieces that include the caramel moons.
In early 2010 I also started to make space-themed tubing *without* any murrine to compliment my more complex scenes, and for when I couldn't scale the work down small enough, or when there was shaping which made the murrine-filled scenes un-renderable. This also gave me the opportunity to make much more tubing than I could before and dial in my fuming via repetition. However, in hindsight I wish I had included more murrine into some of my work during this era to make it more distinguishable...but it's all part of the path I'm on, and each 'I wish I had done this!' is an important stepping stone in the overall advancement of one's artwork. Onwards and upwards to IG2.0!!!
•Intergalactic 2.0•
2014-2015
IG2.0 started to drop in the beginning of 2014 (although I was dropping 'EXP' teaser pics on IG and FB slightly beforehand) and these are scenes that include (virtually) all of my own self-made murrine. This includes a variety of my own UFO's (2 Aliens Cruisin, Scout, and Ranger) and my own Rocketship w/Blastronaut being the two most widely used murrine in the IG2.0 scenes, but also bigger chips in general, as well as the introduction to my own 'sun' and 'saturn' murrine. The three crescent moons were initially reduced to one in this part of the series during the beginning of this release, and I even experimented with a few moon murrine as well, but later reverted back to the overlapping dots to capture the initial aesthetic.
•Intergalactic 2.1•
2014
The 'point' denotes that there is particular scenery below the Intergalactic work. IG2.1 is 'ColoRADo' (with it's snowcapped rocky mtns, it's lush green forests, and the CO murrine chip, which is about to debut at the 'Lost in Space' show at Fuzion Gallery in Santa Barbara, Aug 2014). Each 'point' thereafter is another series of scenery or themes. Due to the nature of the chip-stacking technique that I use to create these particular sub-series, there is less murrine overall due to the larger size tiles required to create the scenes, making each 'point' series (and subsequently the coins/chips/tiles and component sets) a little more limited than it's predecessors. Each of the pieces in these series are signed 'N8', the series (ie: 'IG 2.1'), and the year.
•Intergalactic 2.2.0•
2015
IG2.2 is the Pura Vida Series. It was inspired on my annual trips to Costa Rica, but could be anywhere tropical I suppose. Includes three tiles; Palm trees, Beach Sunset, and Arenal Volcano. By increasing the tiles to three in the series, I was able to create more work, even though the tiles are still very limited by very nature.
•Intergalactic 2.2.1•
2016
IG 2.2.1 is the Bronto Park scene utilizing dinosaurs modeled after Elbo’s Bronto series as a tribute. These tiles with two dino’s and palm trees are used interchangeably with the palms, sunset, and volcano scene from IG2.2. Was mistakenly titled as IG3.1 in a few IG posts.
•Intergalactic 3.0•
2016-2018
Around 10 new murrine were introduced (and the former IG2.0 murrine retired) at a release party at in May 2016 at Boro Brothers in NY. The new series includes among other things; a Challenger shuttle tribute murrine, an earth (stringer-stack collaboration with my GF at the time ), a satellite with an Operation Paperclip easter egg (released later), several background effects, and the introduction of planets into the scenes.
•Intergalactic 4.0•
2019-2021
40+ new murrine designs; wormholes, planets, moons, stars, comets, and more! By far my most ambitious series of murine to date, I spent three month designing and making the murine before the series even started. Released on 7/10/2019 and scheduled to wrap up in the Winter of 2021. What will IG5.0 bring??
•N8-BIT•
2018-2019
Dubbed 'N8-Bit", this series is an homage to the 8-bit games of my childhood, including the likes of Space Invaders and Galaga, etc. A total of eight 8-bit characters were recreated in murrine, including some of my classic images such as the rocketship, the twilight star, and the triple moon. A very limited body of work that was only available thru a special drop presented by Purple Haze in Denver Colorado in January 2019.
•Multiverse Work•
2014-Present
These are strictly black and white murrine tiles with various star patterns, a total of four different tiles, one includes a b/w saturn, one includes a b/w milky way, and one includes a b/w moon. There are a limited amount of these released in finished work, and this series was technically a pre-cursor to the IGX.X Series chip-stacked scenery and is still used infrequently today.
•Numbered Series Notes•
SuperClusters - Max'd out IG4.0 space scenes. My intro into lathe-assisted shaping and construction. First flared foot release. UFO fixed perc.
Orbiters - Similar technical features as the SuperCluster above, but can features off-axis incalmo work.
Thrusters - taller fully-worked space mini tubes with flat tops/no maria
Boosters - typically shorter than Thrusters, fully worked space, w/maria top.
Busters - tall as a Thruster, but has the Booster top (w/maria). Small breakaway series.
Phasers - smallest of the mini tubes, the top is flat like a thruster (no maria), spacework on the neck only and a transparent colored can. Double-sided space bottom.
Atom Smashers - very small travel rigs, less than 10 in existence.
Molecule Pendants - only 40/50 solo's were made. There are some collabs, but they aren't numbered or considered part of the numbered series.
Particle Pendants - I started this series around 2015? and numbered them all. There are a little over 100 solo's made since the series started, and only a small handful of collabs (not numbered).
Standup Sherlock Bubblers - A series of 50 solo standup bubblers were made in 2013, all were signed and numbered from this run, and the distinguishing feature on these is that they include low-profile joints versus traditional joints. If it has a traditional taller joint, it's most likely from before the 2013 series, and there were less than 20 of those from 2008-2012. Also, only a couple have been made since the run of 50, and they typically include a fully-worked lo-pro joints and are un-numbered.
•Signing work•
2002-2003 - Unsigned! Yikes!! Pieces that I was super-proud of during this period have a dichro 'N8' logo marble, but I can't imagine many of these exist today (because I really didn't know what I was doing!)
2004-2009: I get my first Ti-Pen! Yay! I start signing everything with either 'N8' (pipes) or 'NM' (marbles) along with the year.
2010-2013: Primarily 'Gold Label' N8 decals, although pieces in a numbered series all had ti-signatures including 'N8', the year, and the number in the series.
2014 - PRESENT: I'm to using ti-pen and/or murrine, and have since dropped the labels. Everything gets 'N8' and the year, and the series/# if applicable.
'EXP' - This is what I label 'experimental' work that for one reason or another wasn't part of an actual series. Sometimes they are prototypes, and sometimes they are simply misfits, I've used EXP starting as early as 2004? and I still use it to this day.
'UV' - this denotes that some sort of UV glass was used. Put your piece under a blacklight to see any hidden forces that may be at play. ;)
REPAIRS: if the piece is repaired back to it's initial state and I personally certify it is as good as new, and it doesn't look obviously different than how it was released/posted, then I usually don't indicate it's been repaired. However, it it's a total salvage job and I just made something functional again for the owners memory-sake, or the repair didn't go smoothly and the aesthetic has been altered drastically, then I generally try to put a R with a circle around it next to my sig (thanks to Mike Gong for this tip!). Pieces that are apart of a numbered series will have a .5 after them (thanks to Alex Ubatuba for this tip!)
If I spaced it (pun fully intended!) and your piece is unsigned, then please contact me to verify the piece is mine and we can work something out regarding the signature or come find me at an upcoming event.
-N8-