OF HUMANS AND STONES
2026–27 · Work in progress · Approximately 65 minutes
Created by Paweł Wojtasik and Erin O’Connor
Directed, filmed, and edited by Paweł Wojtasik
Produced by Steve Holmgren. Sound design by Ernst Karel. Additional cinematography and drone by Ben Wolff
Made in collaboration with sociologist, ethnographer, and glassblower Erin O’Connor. Of Humans and Stones explores the co-becoming of humans and minerals, following quartz and related materials from their geological origins through the processes that culminate in glassmaking. The film observes both the transformation of matter and the people whose labor shapes it.
This sample brings together footage gathered to date and represents the project’s visual language, observational approach, subjects, environments, and overall direction. Completion is anticipated in October 2027.
About the Project
Of Humans and Stones follows quartz and related minerals from their geological origins through extraction, crushing, sorting, batch preparation, and the intense heat of glassmaking. Moving between mines, factories, laboratories, and glass studios, the film observes the transformation of mineral matter alongside the people whose knowledge and labor shape it.
Rather than treating minerals as passive raw material, the film approaches humans, stones, tools, heat, and machines as participants in a shared process of transformation. Through sustained observation and close attention to gesture, texture, sound, and duration, Of Humans and Stones explores the mutual shaping—or co-becoming—of human and mineral worlds.
The film is non-narrated. Its meaning develops through encounters with workers, environments, materials, and processes, allowing the physical intelligence of labor and the agency of matter to emerge through images and sound.
Related Work
Fire Craft: Art, Body, and World Among Glassblowers
Erin E. O’Connor
Columbia University Press, 2025
In Fire Craft, Erin E. O’Connor combines firsthand experience as a glassblower with ethnographic research into the embodied, social, and intellectual dimensions of the craft. The book examines how skill is acquired through the body, how collaboration and failure shape the making process, and how working with fire and molten material transforms both objects and their makers.
O’Connor’s research and experience as a sociologist, ethnographer, and glassblower have been central to the conception of Of Humans and Stones. The book and film are distinct but closely related works, each exploring the interdependence of bodies, materials, tools, heat, labor, and knowledge.