High Style

An illustrated history of an underexamined, yet flourishing art form with countercultural roots: glass cannabis pipe makingPublished with Toledo Museum of Art. Since emerging as an art form in the underground scene of Grateful Dead concerts in the 1980s and 1990s, glass cannabis pipes have grown into a surprising and enduring art form. Operating largely under the radar of mainstream culture, contemporary pipe making nevertheless has an enormous following. Its practitioners are considered folk heroes and art stars to legions of enthusiasts. Pipe exhibitions and festivals occur across the country with regularity, attended by a highly dedicated fandom. Despite this popularity, and even though many pipe makers have been working for more than a quarter century, there has been no major survey of their work. High Style is the first book to present the history and subculture of artist-made glass cannabis pipes in context. With unparalleled access to this reclusive field, and essays by leading scholars of the Grateful Dead, cannabis history, 21st-century psychedelic art and glass pipes, High Style explores the origins and development of the field, demonstrating its aesthetic diversity and its intersections with other American subcultures, from skateboarding and graffiti to Burning Man and Rainbow Gatherings.