Strictly Ball Room.

Since January 1st 2007 I, zocoo dizzyache, have been collecting balls from the canal and river. These balls are nomadic they have no fixed abode they have been abandoned and have taken refuge in the locks and weeds where gradually they begin to blend in with their surroundings. The balls have come from far and wide and no doubt once were someones pride. Now cast asunder, cast aside they wander aimless and hopeless and gradually lose their will to live. When I was a child a ball would have been a very valuable commodity and would never have escaped ..but these days kids have it all and are of a different breed ….we would have climbed into any river any stream and fished out a stray ball ….our mothers didn’t worry about where we were or what we were up to….no ball would have gone astray back in the day. In third world countries they make foot balls with wicker or wire….. Any how, as I said I have been collecting the balls since January and creating an archive. The care taker on our estate lets me store them in the shed, I think I have well over forty, maybe fifty. They all have a little story attached to them and I like the way that each story ties up neatly with my interest in serendipity…which I actually believe is not really about coincidence….i met a woman who was once a systems analysist , I want to find out how much chance and accident really exist ……I do not think they do ….i think that every thing has a pattern it is just that our comprehension is not big enough to understand what is happening around us. These balls fall into the river and into the lock, what is the chance of that happening…must be great because I have collected so many balls…what are the chances of the balls getting stuck in a lock for months and months because the lock gate is broken and the side slip river dreid up…and then the day I finally get my Polaroid to start the project is the day …1st jan …that some clever bastard manages to work open the lock gate and free all the balls …not only that , but we have so much rain on Dec 30th that the dried up river becomes a torrent and I have to wade in and rescue what few balls are left. I manage to lose my Cartier ring in the process…but then three weeks later…for real yeah….find it in the stream!!!!!! I have watched the balls come and go and even the ones that I think have gotten away somehow make it back again. I am not sure how the ball project will end ….i may put an advert in the times ………….asking if anyone recognises the missing balls or I may cast them and make floaty copies which can form a buoyant sculpture piece in the river……….these balls have their own poetry and song to sing. They encapsulate some thing of our throw away culture…the canals were once a mode of transporting goods and wares into London, now they carry plastic bottles and balls. The canals are home to so many birds and provide a peaceful backdrop to city life where many people stroll, jog, ride their bikes , walk their dogs and row their boats….maybe my ball project will reflect some of the sadness I feel when I see how neglectful we have become of our waning natural habitats…………..here is the ball project. Today when I was collecting balls I saw Max from East enders so I got his signature……just for luck.