McCormick Tribune Campus Centre at IIT by OMA, Chicago; All Photos: The Red Ball Project

The Red Ball Project is one of those things that you’d like to hate, with a premise so simple, you’d curse yourself for not arriving at the idea yourself. Whether the large Red Ball is installed in Barcelona or Sydney, the same protocol must always be followed: 1. Find a unique site rich in urban anomalies and architectural detail; 2. Locate a niche in/between the structure(s) and insert a giant inflatable red ball in it; 3. Photograph; 4. Dismantle and repeat. Those are the rules which artist Kurt Perschke has given himself for his continuous project, to which he strictly adheres. The method may be cloying, but there’s something to be said about consistency. Continue.

Sheikh Zayed Bridge by Zaha Hadid Architects, Abu Dhabi

Norwhich

After following the Red Ball’s travels around the world, it is hard to resist the work’s infectious whims. Perschke has an great eye for siting, usually staying clear of the obvious (though these work too) and exposing the opportunities inherent in the fabric of all cities. He does so with a great degree of humor that proves integral to the success of the work. Whether rolling down Zaha Hadid’s Sheikh Zayed Bridge in Adu Dhabi like a pinball guided by bumpers or forced into the vacant space between buildings, Perschke’s creative scenarios impart the object with an almost anthropomorphic comicality, just as Albert Lamorisse did in “The Red Balloon”.

Sydney

Another key to Perschke’s work is its temporality. Unlike most public art, whose very permanence is predisposed to favor solemness over humor, or worse, makes permanent a tired joke, the Red Ball never gets old because if it does, it packs up and leaves. Its migratory nature finds resonance with the realities of contemporary urban life. At the same time, the object’s impermanence guarantees the survival of the project. Visitors who come into contact with the Red Ball, photographing it or bouncing their bodies off its sides, carry with them the fragments of its continual existence. To their eyes, any urban space, neglected or otherwise, is an opportunity to entrap, cradle, or squish a giant aloof Red Ball.

Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA) by Richard Meier, Barcelona

Chicago

Sheikh Zayed Bridge by Zaha Hadid Architects, Abu Dhabi

Al Jahili Fort, Abu Dhabi

by Samuel Medina

posted in Uncategorized

tagged Art, installation, red ball project, temporary

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