Snowball – 2000

SNOWBALL

Teri Rueb

The snowball, a giant ball of salt, was handrolled every three hours for over 400 hours during a three-week period in the summer of 2000. The ball is entirely made of salt and glue and began as a pea-sized wad rolled in the palm of my hand. After it reached a diameter of twenty-four inches, the ball was installed as an outdoor sculpture on Mount Royal Avenue in Baltimore, Maryland for the period of one year. Once exposed to the elements the ball continued to disintegrate, forming crystalline stalagtites or "icicles" and a pool of saline solution that would regularly dehydrate forming a snowy surface of salt crystal in the base of the sculpture. The sisyphisian task of making the snowball is integral to the piece as a video performance.

Snowball Installation

 

© teri rueb | 2000

stills from video performance, rolling process: