On Martinstraße in the 18th district stands a furnace that never quite goes out. Robert Comploj, glass artist with stints in Murano and the USA, has his studio here: a workshop where glass is melted, blown, turned and shaped, and a gallery where the finished pieces stand.
His objects are colourful, large and sometimes humorous; vases, sculptures, lamps, commissions for hotels and collectors. Watch him work and you understand why glassblowing is a dance: the pipe turns, the glass flows, and within minutes it is decided whether the piece succeeds.
