Giant Red PVC Ball Invades The Windy City
SOMEWHERE IN CHICAGO, Sept. 19, 2008 – All month pedestrians in Chicago have testified to the same strange sightings – a 15-foot red ball bulging from alleyways, shoved beneath overpasses, and wedged into bridge walkways.
The first sighting was on a sidewalk in Millennium Park on Sept. 1. Later that week it appeared outside the Spertus Institute, under an awning at the Wishbone Restaurant, and on the steps of the Field Museum.
Fortunately, spectators were more amused than horrified at the giant tomato-colored spectacle, Many approached the orb to touch its soft vinyl surface, or run into it, then careening back from their bouncy encounters, engulfed in convulsive laughter.
The RedBall Project is the brainchild of sculptor and video artist Kurt Perschke, who brings the ball to cities all over the world, where it pops up against, beneath, next to, or atop several existing architectural structures during its visit, places that Perschke has scouted out in advance of its arrival.
The RedBall locations are often nondescript places that passersby would otherwise just, well, pass by. Instead, they stop, stare, examine, and sometimes plunge into its squishy surface, as the RedBall creates what Perschke calls a "sculptural advocate for space within our daily landscape." And a lot of fun, according to the video clips on its web site.
Appearances at each Chicago location are for 5 to 7 hours each stop. Then the ball is deflated and moved to the next location, where it is re-inflated by an industrial-strength blower. The ball will appear in several locations of each city during a visit of two weeks to a month.
The durable vinyl is the same used in inflatable rafts or boats, and has an internal lining, so an accidental tear in the surface is easily repaired.
Perschke first dreamt up the project in 2001, when the red ball debuted under a concrete overpass in St. Louis, commissioned by Arts in Transit, in conjunction with the St. Louis Arts Fair and the Clayton Art Commission. Since that time the ball, packed in a nylon bag and shipped in a plastic crate the size of a refrigerator, has been sponsored for appearances in Barcelona, Spain; Sydney, Australia; Busan, South Korea; Portland, Ore.; and Scottsdale, Ariz.
The RedBall's Chicago appearances are sponsored by the Target retail chain, and are scheduled to wind up the Windy City visits on Sept. 25 at the Chicago Cultural Museum.
Chicago will not be the last stop. Perschke is currently investigating future locations for RedBall visits. So the RedBall Project will continue making the rounds.
For more information on the RedBall Project, click here.
The Vinyl Institute represents the leading manufacturers involved in the production of PVC vinyl in the United States, and promotes the value of PVC and vinyl products to society.
For more information, contact:
Jeffrey B. Palmer
Director of Marketing & Communications
The Vinyl Institute
(703) 741-5669
jeff_palmer@plastics.org.
Also, go to www.vinylinfo.org, and www.vinylindesign.com.