Toy Story
Menil Park's giant mystery ball disappears as suspected RedBall artist criesfoul
When a red ball appeared floating in an oak tree at the Menil Park on Friday, it was suspected that the object was related to artist Kurt Perschke's multi-city artwork, RedBall Project. Not so.
CultureMap spoke with the public art maestro and he told us that the ball, which has already mysteriously disappeared from Menil Park, is not his.
"I was surprised," Perschke says, describing the Houston ball as a knockoff. "I suppose a forgery can be seen as either flattery or insult, but mostly I am disappointed, as this is such a poor knockoff."
The closest Perschke has come to getting one of his big red balls to Texas was a discussion with Austin's Art in Public Places program, which organized a lecture with the artist at the George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center in 2007. "I'm curious if the ball in Houston was done by somebody who attended that lecture," he speculates.
Perschke says he is in negotiations to place his ball in U.S. cities this summer, although nothing is finalized.
"Right now, Houston is not on the map, although it is certainly a great culture city," he says, explaining that the process of booking a site is lengthy — negotiations to bring the RedBall Project to Taipei endured for six years. The next confirmed site is in London during the 2012 Olympics.
The Houston ball may be derivative, but Perschke's not bitter, saying, "The project is very much about working with architecture and playing with the space of the city. I could totally understand why somebody would like to play with that idea. Anything that puts energy, enthusiasm and playfulness into public space is worth a shot."
Didn't catch CultureMap's first article on the mysterious red ball at the Menil? Check it out here.