Ben Barocas is a Manhattan glassblower who specializes in creating pipes and bongs. His signature cat butt pipes are a hit with customers, who are increasingly willing to pay big bucks for more artistic smoking accessories.
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Feeling adrift during his college years, Barocas stumbled into a glassblower’s gallery and was immediately hooked. He dropped out of school and taught himself how to mold marbles, pendants, and more. Now, Barocas makes pipes and bongs out of a Manhattan basement studio and sells them to admiring stoners across the country. He’s become known as “the cat butt guy” for his crass, feline-inspired pipes.
Glassblowers like Barocas have been targeted in the past, most notably during Operation Pipe Dreams, a nationwide investigation into marijuana pipe and bong-makers in 2003. Fifty-five people were indicted for their involvement in the pipe-making industry, one of whom spent nine months in jail.
Instead of discouraging the glassblowing community, Operation Pipe Dreams sent Barocas and others underground to passionately pursue their art.
“Glass pipe art is the most exciting thing to happen to the glassblowing industry in 15 years,” said Barocas. Marijuana culture has revitalized the art form, he said.
As Alaska and Oregon join two other states in legalizing recreational marijuana, Barocas and other glass artists see a wave of change and an opportunity for better business. A blossoming marijuana culture means more legitimacy for glassblowers creating elaborate pipes. Pieces by Barocas and others are making their way into art galleries instead of headshops, and they’re selling for thousands of dollars instead of a few.
Transcript
Some people have their most amazing experiences out at a bar getting drunk or something. And there’s a group of people who have their most amazing bonding experiences with their friends in a circle smoking pot.
My name is Ben Barocas. I am a glass blower who specializes in high-end art glass pipes.
Glass blowing is, I think, one of the most meditative things you can do. Because you’re staring into molten glass which is already mesmerizing. There’s gravity, there’s centrifugal force, there’s heat, there’s air, there’s, you know, it’s fluid. You know, all these gigantic elements in the universe that you have to sort of keep an eye on. And it’s very fun.
I was working in my sister’s garage out in Long Island, and her cat went in to eat. And by about day three of it wagging its butt in my face going MEOW MEOW MEOW, I kind of heard what the universe was telling me, and I was like: “Okay, I got you. I’ll do this.” (Laughs)
I started making these glass cat butts and pendants and pipes and slides and all sorts of pieces, and that’s been really popular.
You know, you go into a head shop, and a lot of times it’s crammed together and things are piled behind each other and sort of cramped in a case. It smells like patchouli and incense, and there’s Rasta music playing and you’re like, this isn’t the right presentation for a piece of art necessarily.
The average pipe back in the day was $20 and now there are a lot of $1000 pieces. There’s $5,000 pieces, $10,000 pieces, $50,000 pieces.
Instead of just being like oh yeah, this thing came over in a shipping container from some sweatshop over in China, they can be like this thing was crafted by this artisan in New York who cares about what he’s doing and will still be in the business in 10 years and is invested in this community.
I believe in time this stuff will all just be looked at as art. And I don’t mind being on the cutting edge. (Laughs)
