Where did these come from?

Following on from the "memory ball" made at the CQ summer school, but not using my idea of using a thumbtack (drawing pin) to hold the slip of paper holding the memory-word onto or into the ball as it was being wound, this ball simply has tacks held together with thread -

contains 100 tacks, wrapped around a pebble

Then another one needed to be made -

wrapped around a tennis ball

And another - 

nails are harder to hold in

Perhaps they are "just procrastination" (several other projects need finalising if they are to be part of my degree show - in fact I need to decide, soon, exactly what to show).

The tack-balls are exciting to make, and I've been trying to photograph them and make a little video for the show. The overwhelming problems are security for the device on which they'll be shown and the lack of a power supply near my bit of wall. The answer might be to show them on an ipad - the battery should last throughout the day and can be recharged overnight. But - how to get the pix, the video, to show on it? And what about security - last year a laptop was stolen, and the rooms won't be invigilated during the week that assessment is going on. I'm thinking of going back to "old technology" - printing the photos and making a flicker book instead of having a video - it's a way to get audience participation, wot?

Another aspect of audience participation is that I'd like people to touch and hold these intriguing objects - their weight is surprising - 60g for the small gold one and 222g (half a pound) for the red one.

Part of the procrastination/distraction aspect of making the tack-balls is that I can't get my head round how they might (or... might not...) fit into my project theme (reminder to self: the project theme is loss of memory). "Perhaps they are what destroys memory" said Karen, and she went on to brainstorm the concept:

Tacks...?

 A way of attaching  something,  

A temporary fix causing  permanent damage

Sabotage...  tacks on the road , puncture,  on a chair seat

Push (in )pull (out)

Sinks in deep, leaves a hole

Other names -thumb tack , drawing pin, brass tacks 

           http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/get-down-to-brass-tacks.html

Could you write on the heads( heads -memory)

I'm hoping that the tie-in of the memory ball I'll be making at the exhibition, and a suitable title, will link these tack-balls into the theme. But maybe that won't be enough. It's got to feel right; it's got to fit; it's got to be part of "a resolved body of creative practice".