The Hologram and Rhine Stone – Process Study

This experiment begins with a found stone from the Rhine river in Cologne.

The stone was cut and polished to receive a bonded glass structure containing a holographic layer. Geological material and recorded light are physically joined into one body.

The Rhine stone carries erosion and river time. The hologram carries stored interference patterns of light. The glass mediates between both — enclosing light within mass.

Stacked glass plates bonded onto a polished Rhine river stone, showing reflective surfaces and layered transparency.

At this stage, the object is still raw. Layers remain visible. The materials are distinct.

The work starts with this question:
What happens when light is not projected — but sealed inside matter?

Stacked glass plates bonded together with visible internal distortions, forming a transparent cube structure. — Glass plates bonded into a solid block, enclosing a holographic layer within.

Hand holding a stone and glass composite object in a workshop sink, showing rough cut glass ready for shaping.

After bonding the materials, the object enters its first shaping phase.

This early stage follows the glass saw. The surfaces are rough, opaque, and unfinished. The form exists, but it is not yet resolved.

Cold working with diamond tools begins here — a gradual process of defining geometry and preparing the object for transparency.

Assembly becomes sculpture.

Hand holding a partially ground glass object with a visible red holographic reflection inside the material.

As one surface becomes transparent, the hologram inside starts to appear.

The surrounding faces are still matte from grinding, but through this clear window the stored light becomes visible for the first time. The color is not pigment — it is diffracted light emerging from the embedded layer.

The object transitions from solid mass to optical body.

Hand holding a shaped glass and stone composite object with matte surface after grinding, shown dry.

The overall form is now established.

The facets are shaped, but the surface remains matte and dry after grinding. In this state, the object appears almost opaque. The light inside is still muted.

This stage is about precision — defining planes and orientation before clarity returns.

The structure is set. Transparency will follow.

Shaped glass and stone composite object lying in grass, with violet marker visible on the defined glass facets.

The facets are fully defined and prepared for polishing.

The violet markings are working references, used to track the surfaces during shaping. They are part of the process, not the final work.

Geometry is now precise. What remains is to restore transparency.

With polishing, the object will shift from matter to light.

Hand holding a polished glass and Rhine river stone sculpture with visible blue holographic reflections inside the transparent upper section.

With polishing complete, the surfaces become transparent and the interior activates.

Light enters through the defined facets, refracts through the glass, and reveals the embedded hologram. The reflections are not applied color, but stored interference patterns made visible through angle and movement.

Hand holding a polished glass and stone sculpture against a dark background, showing colorful holographic reflections inside the transparent upper section.

The stone remains grounded and opaque.

The glass becomes optical.

What began as material assembly becomes a unified body — where geological matter and recorded light coexist.