Sport: Playing Surface
Richard Serra's Handball Court   (+4)  [vote for, against]
stand clear, curved heavy metal and a tennis ball

For those who may not know, Richard Serra is a sculptor who works with large scale sheets of metal. He stands them on their edges, and has no worries about them ever falling into the hands of thieves.

If he reads this idea, he may wish to consider the merits of allowing one of these most excellent standing pieces to double up as a handball court.

The piece would be most effective if it appeared to be balanced precariously, promoting the concept that striking certain areas too hard with the ball might just de-stabilise it.
-- xenzag, Oct 17 2008

Richard Serra http://images.googl...safe%3Doff%26sa%3DN
one of a number of his most excellent pieces [xenzag, Oct 17 2008]

Disney Concert Hall http://flickr.com/p...efinery/2143092850/
Almost as impressive as Serra. [jurist, Oct 17 2008]

I was at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles designed by Frank Gehry again last weekend and noticed for the first time as I roved about its roof how much the exterior stainless steel undulating walls resembled Serra's forms. I, too, thought it would be fun to bat around a handball against these surfaces, made even more fun by all the reflections. And in that respect, Gehry's stainless steel would be more fun than Serra's fragile and easily marked rust-coated surfaces. (+)
-- jurist, Oct 17 2008


Unfortunately in this economy many Art Museums may become handball courts.
-- theGem, Oct 18 2008


I agree about the Gehry structures, but there is something deeply satisfying about a tennis ball striking the inscrutably hard surface of a wall of steel that is at least 4 inches thick. Just think of the sharp ping; the tiny puff of rust, and the desperate attempts of the competitors to avoid colliding with the unmoving walls. The added element of course is that they look like they could actually fall over.
-- xenzag, Oct 18 2008



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