Entangled vessels: a practice-led enquiry on circulation, containment and connectivity through the plasma illumination of blown glass

This practice-led research article traces the development of Entangled Vessels , a series of plasma-illuminated borosilicate glass sculptures whose forms, materials and processes are entangled with circulatory metaphors drawn from both biology and physics. Working at the intersection of glass-blowing, neon fabrication and scientific glass-working, the author draws on the dual etymology of plasma, as both an ionised state of matter made luminous and a vascular component of blood, to investigate plasma illumination as a responsive and relational medium. The article explores how the experience of blood plasma donation during the COVID-19 pandemic, encounters with historical representations of circulatory systems, and technical mentorships with neon practitioners, scientific glassmakers and international plasma illumination practitioners converged to shape an experimental art practice. Central to this inquiry is the manifold: the apparatus through which glass vessels undergo atmospheric manipulation. Positioned not as a neutral tool but as an active participant in the making process, the manifold becomes a conceptual and material site of connectivity, containment and circulation. Through capacitive illumination, in which plasma vessels glow symbiotically within electromagnetic fields, brightening in response to a viewer’s proximity and touch, these works make visible the typically invisible relationships between bodies, objects and energy. The article argues that plasma illumination, considered through Karen Barad’s term intra-action, offers a medium uniquely capable of revealing our imperceptible interconnectedness.