At first it looked like any other ball among the wood chips and I almost passed it by. After all, balls are the most common toy that I find at the Falls of the Ohio State Park. But something told me to look more closely at this one and that’s when I noticed the network of filaments that were eroding away on the surface of this silvery sphere. Picking it up, I then realized I was holding something different and to my mind and eye a bit more fascinating too. Yes, it is a ball, but one made from duct tape!
Over the years I have found several other handmade balls made from different materials and they always elicit wonder in me as artifacts. There is something in the human need to create form from formlessness that is at the root of creativity and can be seen in this eccentric collection. I think this can happen reflexively too without deep thought being involved. The largest of these balls would fit comfortably in the palm of your hand and is slightly smaller than an American baseball. Since most of them are made from various tapes…I’m guessing they are the waste products of work. What began as something relatively flat gets transformed by the mind and hand into a fully satisfying three-dimensional object that you can grasp, throw, or roll. For me, there is something appealing art-like in these objects which began life as one thing and by shifting its original purpose and function becomes something entirely different.
Here are two duct tape balls I have found by the river. The one on the left is pictured on the wood chips and its partner has vestiges of dried paint or primer on its surface. The spheres are created by layering one flat piece of tape over another until a ball is formed. It is not necessary to create a ball to dispose of this waste tape, but this is what their makers did…and then it wound up in the river which is yet again another story to ponder.
These two balls are made from stretchy electrical tape and are tight and dense. I remember that the very first handmade ball I found was also made from this smooth black tape. When my eldest son was a small boy and needed a project to do involving recycled materials… I helped him construct this circus pull toy from materials found at the river.
At the heart of this toy is a handmade ball made from electrical tape. My son thought this would make a great prop for a circus lion to stand on while it jumped through a flaming hoop! Of course, the only fire we actually used came from our imaginations. The yellow plastic lion was also found at the river and has a nice oily patina on it that comes from being in the river for a while. Here’s a smaller ball made from green tape.
I’m sure people are making balls from paper-based tapes too, but these don’t survive being exposed to the elements for very long.
This ball made with cellophane tape is barely holding together. It’s surface is fragile and the adhesive is losing its bond. As it starts to peel apart, sand caught between the layers is released.
The four balls pictured here are made from compressed aluminum foil. Perhaps they were used for cooking and once their original purpose was over, the owners rolled the foil around the palms of their hands like one would do to form a ball from either clay or snow. The funny thing about aluminum foil and the river is that the water somehow squeezes it even more and the ball becomes denser and more solid. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed looking at this rare and somewhat tongue in cheek odd ball collection where the sum is definitely greater than the parts! Spring will be arriving soon and the Ohio River is calling…until next time.
Artist at Exit 0 Riverblog 