Dumbballs

Among the simplest artworks, yet the most revealing of Ireland’s thought process, are his Dumbballs, hand-sized spheres of concrete the artist began making around 1983. Ireland makes them by continuously tossing a wet lump of concrete back and forth between his hands until, after twelve hours or so of this meditative action, the material dries into a natural rounded form. The name Ireland gives to these unassuming gray balls refers to the lack of artistic knowledge and skill needed to make them. Like a snowball, a child can make one as well as a genius; it is simply a matter of paying attention and being in the moment during the hours of creation.

The Dumbballs are very important to Ireland. To symbolize this, he often exhibits them in special cases, such as his Dumbball Box (1983), presenting the balls with the same care and attention that might be given to religious or historical relics. “I wanted to honor them and make them respectable, not a throw-away idea or a gag or a joke. I wanted them to be seen as a significant and important process work,” he explains.