16 September 2012

What of the ball now?

Irene asked " What is the weight of the ball, what is its future? " So I got out the scales -
The big red ball weighs 420g; the smaller red one, full of rocks and tacks weighs 225g.

(The ceramic forms in the background are by Yixin Lin, one of the designer-maker graduates.)

As for the future of the big red ball that holds my past life - the suggestion to cut it open with a sword doesn't attract me at all. Another suggestion was to burn it - nope, still too violent. Nor will I be coating it in "something" to seal it forever. 

It started out as "the red thread of connexion", and I love the idea that all the people who have known me are bound together in this way, whether they know each other or not, and however far apart in time (and space) they are. I was also thinking of the thread that got Theseus out of the labyrinth after he killed the Minotaur. A suggestion that appeals to me is to unwind the ball and have some sort of video or photographic record of the unwinding - perhaps along a path, or in an empty room. The names falling out will be written on different colours of paper (if shades of grey are a colour) according to place and time, and it would be interesting to see those scattered in sequence.

But for now, it just IS. 

2 comments:

Celia Stanley said...

Very pleased to be part of your ball. I really enjoyed the show.

Olga Norris said...

What might be really interesting would be to have a visual and audio record of you unwinding the ball, with you telling what you remember of each name as you encounter it. It would then continue to fit into your memory theme.