Performance, first created on April 5, 2025, in memory of the SKF ball bearing factory in Ivry.
During the 1985 uprisings, the steel balls were used as projectiles.
The Galerie Fernand Léger is housed in a former cinema, the floor is sloping.
Using the large gallery broom, I try to carefully, very slowly, push a hundred or so bearing balls up the slope, then let them go. The balls roll down the slope, hitting the stage and the back wall with a loud crash. One visitor spontaneously comments: “It’s a revolution!”
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Bearing balls in the office furniture factory Stoll, Waldshut, Germany, around 1931-33, photo: Hermann (Sven) Gautel -
Worker with a very tall ball bearing, SKF catalogue from the 1920s, Municipal Archives of Ivry-sur-Seine -
Bearing Balls, performance at the opening, on April 5, 2025, photo: Jason Karaïndros
Bearing Balls, photos of the different performances: Marius Amoretti, Mathilde Ardaillon, Livia Gautel, Mathias Gautel, Jérôme Glicenstein, Ha Cha Youn, Jason Karaïndros, Tania Ruiz, Yves Sabourin, Josiane Scoleri, Liliane Terrier, Bernard Tranchandon…
Bearing Balls, video recording of the performance, April 5, 2025: Despina Kontargyris