iBall
Art is often premonitory. iBall, created in 2015, unwittingly predicted what would happen in 2020 with the pandemic era.
Social distancing, travel restrictions, using technology to communicate… In this context, art, culture and particularly the act of creation have become a symbol of resistance. Sublimated inside a large ball made of plexiglass, glitter and light placed on a stand, like one of those old gumball machines, Steven Cohen convokes a communion of beings to celebrate the living.
He is isolated from us by a material which prevents him from engaging in any kind of verbal communication, but at the same time he is in permanent visual contact with us all. Doesn’t this remind you, perhaps, of your own lockdown experiences in the last year? Each spectator will get the chance to approach the ball individually and engage with the performer, holding his gaze (or not) and engaging in some kind of interaction with him. What kind? A glance, a short video clip, a physical creation… It will depend on you, because the concept of a passive spectator does not exist here.