updated: 3/1/21 Added Online Communities & Collaborators

Now the person I’m introducing is Tristen August, he works for Konstrucktiv in Berlin. Konstrucktiv is a product manufacturing and rapid prototyping solution, with Tristan as their expert in creative solutions, electronics, manufacturing, and hardware hacks. Perhaps he and Dalibor Farny are kindred spirits.  Among the participants in the workshop, Tristen was the most familiar with plasma, yet did not have any glassblowing experience. This wasn’t a problem since he was able to pick up on glassblowing jargon, and worked with other participants to have vessels made, much like Ed himself. With his technical understanding, he brought him a plasma transformer he designed and a few experiments he made with glass tubing. 

In any case, I hope you enjoy the last podcast of 2020!

Thank You for listening to the Taming Lightning Podcast!

​I hope you enjoyed the last episode of 2020. To close out, I wanted to bring up that in the recent committee meeting for the Plasma Art Alliance, Tristan's name has come up a few times. since meeting him in Sweden, Ed Kirshner has connected him with another Committee member, Ander Mikkelsen, whose technical expertise and apprenticeship under Mundy Hepburn have been developing both plasma transformers or inverters, alongside honing his glassblowing ability. No matter what the next year brings, I want to be able to show more of the plasma process; but before that happens, I have to get my manifold in running condition, get a few extra hands, and learn few new tricks.

I'd like to thank Pittsburgh Glass Center for hosting the Residency for the 2019 Advancing Black Arts in Pittsburgh Grant, and for supporting me as a place of research and inspiration. Plasma Art Alliance where I have access to the well of knowledge and connects me to some amazing and supportive people. I’d like to mention a few: Ed Kirshner for providing the opportunity to learn and teach with him in Sweden, and Ben Orozco for his help in making that possible as our vanguard, and for his help as the co-host for the Intro to Plasma Series. Lastly, all of this would not have been possible without the support of the Advancing Black Arts in Pittsburgh Grant funded by The Pittsburgh Foundation and The Heinz endowments.

If you like to support Taming Lightning, please donate to the Taming Lightning x GEEX Intro to plasma series. If money is a bit tight, please check out the "Intro to Plasma" Series on YouTube and leave a comment about what you find useful, and questions about what you like to hear for current and future chapters, I’ll have links provided in the show notes.

Please share, comment, and subscribe. And as always be safe, be healthy, and be strong, and I’ll See you next year!

Re-Post due accidental deletion

In this podcast I will address three topics from Chapter 1, the first being the inspiration behind my drive to learn about plasma, the story and concept behind The Tell-Tale truth, and to expand on the elements of plasma to better transition into chapter 2: Taking Shape, which will involve the functional and aesthetic consideration for making a vessel in glass. 

Music:
Intro: Boost by Joakim Karud

Outro: The Process by Lakey Inspired

​Now back the Element of Plasma where I define what each of these categories are. 

• The first category is vessel crafting: the means of facilities, education, materials, and techniques related to glassmaking; contains the topics of vessel shape, structure, size, choice of electrode along with its placement, and leak checking. 
• The Second Category is Alchemy: the means to which pieces can be processed and filled for plasma; containing topics such as: cleaning, adding phosphors, filling technique, and gas mixtures and recipes. 
• The Third category is Technology: the facilities and the means to learn, educate, and practice processing and filling, and finishing plasma sculpture; containing the topics of  the vacuum manifold, gas transfer system, gauges, equipment maintenance and use, Transformers for plasma, which includes considerations for resolving your sculptures aesthetically,  and safely. 

So I’m going to stop here, since we are  kind of leading up to chapter 2: Taking Shape, where we’ll review the Elements of Plasma, elaborate on why vessel crafting comes first, and contextualized the aesthetic and function considerations in the Anatomy of Plasma Sculpture.

Thank you for listening to the taming lightning podcast!

I’d like to thank GEEX for inviting me to collaborate for this series. Writing the Chapter Notes was challenging, yet fun, though academically I never found myself enjoying writing, yet I hope to have more feedback I can respond to for the upcoming chapters.

Let me know if my experience helped provide some  footing since there is yet to exist a comprehensive resource for guidance. While  frustrating, through simple curiosity and spark of passion finding various sources to tackle these subjects can be quite fun.

I will admit in the regards to my announcement last podcast I failed to meet the declared release date for the episode by exactly a week, but in the very least I’m homing in. Writing took much more time than I ever anticipated.

Feel free to share, comment, and subscribe.

And as always be safe, be healthy, and be Strong.

 See you next time,

-Percy Echols II, Taming Lightning

I’d like to thank GEEX for inviting me to collaborate for this series. Which is a mixture of an interview and lecture, using my experience as a pathway to the continual learning and understanding of plasma.  Which has yet to have a comprehensive resource for guidance, and while that can and has been frustrating, it’s also been fun finding various sources to tackle a subject.
In this collaboration I’d like to thank the Director, Helen Lee for starting the conversation, Assistant Director, Emily Leach, whom you’ve got hear pop in during the break and at the end, and  The Graphic Designer and Web Manager, Ben Orozco, who will co-hosting for the remainder of the series.
Even in this first step, I find myself taking notes in adopting a more organized approach with feedback to improve the flow of the podcast, including solidifying a release date for the podcast, which will be every 3rd Thursday.  This collaborative series will be released October, December, February, and April.
Lastly , I'd like to thank Pittsburgh Glass Center for supporting me as a place of research and inspiration, as well as encouraging me to pursue this project, and the Plasma Art Alliance where I have access to the well of knowledge and connect me to some amazing and supportive people.
Please consider support the 4-part series buy donating to GEEX Fundraiser!

 Feel free to share, comment, and subscribe. And as always be safe, be healthy, and be Strong, and I’ll See you next time!

-Percy Echols II, Taming Lightning

This episode is sponsored by The Pittsburgh Foundation and The Heinz Endowment in reception of the Advancing Black Arts in Pittsburgh Grant, and residency is hosted by the Pittsburgh Glass Center.

During the early 2 months of the Covid-19 pandemic with the stay-at-home order here in Pittsburgh,  I took advantage of that time to research. Among many things, I wanted to answer several questions I had for the noble gases: when were they discovered, who discovered them, and the naming convention behind the gases. (the last one being my slight obsession with word and meanings/definitions of). I ended up on the Chemistry World website where I found this article. Now it took a little more time than previous permission but Taming Lightning has been granted permission to read the following article from the Chemistry World Magazine by the Royal Society of Chemistry.

You can can view the contents of a magazine for free with limited readings, but with Free registration, you’ll be able to read more articles per month before seeing the dreaded paywall. Which if your like me, not a heavily invested,  it’s a perfect fit. 
​
They also include podcasts: such as Chemistry in its Element, a weekly tour of the periodic table. (I’ve made a playlist on spottily called Elements of Plasma), and Chemistry World Book club, where you can explore popular science books and interviews with their authors, which you can find on any of your podcatchers, just like the one you’re listening to now.
For Full or unlimited access to their website there several options available: yearly access is $40, monthly is 4 dollars, and 30 day pass is 5.

Thank You for listening to the Taming Lightning Podcast. I hope you enjoyed the reading of A Noble Quest: History of Noble Gases. I wanted to share this because we mirror elements of this in our own pursuits be it neon or plasma. We will find there are many fields to learn and understand, we will be challenged or helped by our contemporaries, and it all starts with what we have around us, well in the case of noble gases is air, and I encourage you to do the same with what resources are available to you. Thus I enjoy searching for interesting articles and papers that you can listen to as you carry on with your day. If you find something interesting that you would like to have narrated, please send me an email or Facebook message at Taming Lightning.

I’d like to thank Gill Cockhead, the contracts & copyright Executive at the Royal Society of Chemistry, and the Chemistry World Magazine for the permission to narrate Mike Sutton article, A Noble Quest: History of Noble Gases.  I’ve purchased a 30-day pass and hope to find other related articles to narrate.

Also I’d like to thank Pittsburgh Glass Center for supporting me as a place of research and inspiration, The Heinz Endowments and the Pittsburgh Foundation for their support through the 2019 Advancing Black Arts in Pittsburgh Grant, which allowed me to buffer my loss of income during the early 2 months of the Covid-19 pandemic, and Plasma Art Alliance where I have access to the well of knowledge and connects me to some amazing and supportive people. 

Feel free to share, comment, and subscribe. 

As always Be Safe, Be Healthy, and Be Strong, and I’ll See you next time

-Percy Echols II | Taming Lightning