1 December 2007

Kurt PERSCHKE and Richard Serra

Kurt PERSCHKE's Redball project, back to the United States

Mobile sculptural installation integrates with Scottsdale surroundings to create the art of human interaction

New York, NY (January 28, 2008) -- New York-based artist Kurt Perschke brought his RedBall Project back to the United States in January 2008 with a series of installations in Scottsdale, Ariz. Commissioned by Scottsdale Public Art, this is the sixth appearance by the RedBall Project, and the first in the United States since 2005.

Perschke states, ?On the surface the experience seems to be about the ball itself as an object, but the true power of the project is what it can create for those who experience it. Transforming the spectator into a participant in the act of imagination.?

While the red ball is 15 feet (4.6 meters) in diameter and weighs 250 pounds (120 kilograms), the inflatable orb is more than a simple object. From oddly curious stares, to playful interaction and immediate engagement, Perschke?s RedBall Project has created a buzz in every city it has visited.

The Public Art program in Scottsdale saw an opportunity with RedBall to bring an installation to the city which created personal interaction among strangers and entered the public?s imagination. ?I had seen the reaction RedBall Project received in other cities around the world and believed Scottsdale was an ideal location for the installation,? said Valerie Vadala Homer, program director for the Scottsdale Public Art Program. ?Since it first appeared on January 18 the public response has been overwhelming and it has truly created a public dialogue in our city.?

Scottsdale Public Art has brought more than 80 public artworks to Scottsdale since 1985. This includes permanent iconic artworks such as The Doors by Donald Lipski, Love by Robert Indiana and Knight Rise by James Turell one of only three skyspaces open to the public in the United States.

Future RedBall locales are currently under consideration for cities in Asia, Europe, Turkey and the United States.
For more information on Kurt Perschke?s RedBall Project or Scottsdale Public Art, please visit www.redballproject.com or www.scottsdalepublicart.org.



Only boring people are bored. And there are more reasons to live in San Diego than just the fact that we have less traffic than L.A. and more sunshine than New York. Promise. One of the biggest reasons occurred over the weekend when the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego more than doubled its downtown location space with the opening of the new Copley and Jacobs buildings across the street from the original Kettner building and downtown trolley station. To celebrate, MCASD filled its brand new walls with specially-commissioned installation art like the giant unmentionable-looking, hanging, scented sculpture of Ernesto Neto and Richard Serra's huge steel blocks that line the patio adjacent to the railroad. BTW, the name of Neto's piece is as great as it looks:


"Mother body emotional densities, for alive temple time baby son,"


His works present simple geometrical shapes, planes, ellipses, truncated cones, etc. One of his most famous works, “Snake”, shown in the central image, is based on a third-degree polynomial equation. In this group we can also include those works that adopt forms of surface equations not considered in the other groups. For example transcendent mathematical equations, such as trigonometric or exponential, etc.

Richard Serra's 'Snake' in the Guggenhiem Museum Bilbao - architect Frank Gehry. Great essay about the building in 'Architecture of Aftermath' by Terry Smith.