Transcript

One Ball Total Equilibrium Tank (Spalding Dr. JK 241 Series), 1985. In the early eighties, I made the body of work The New. With The New I was working with readymade objects, and I was displaying them for their newness, and the objects had to be clean—very pristine. They were never used—the cases had to be completely clean and pristine. So when I made new work, I wanted to free myself from those constraints. I conceived of a body of work that was much more biological, and it had more of a masculine look to it. If you look at it on the outside, they’re darker colors. The stands are painted in a matte black. They’re aquarium tanks with dark trim, and they’re kind of sports images—basketballs would be within these tanks within the Equilibrium series. At the same time, though, the work is completely feminine. It’s right in this moment like an embryo in the womb, but it’s also like after death—there’s this timeless, metaphysical quality about the work. It’s pre-birth; it’s right at this moment in the now; it’s after death; and it’s a connection to being within the womb. It’s all things at once.