big blue ball

In 2007, Donna Wright completed a PhD at Southern Cross University, Northern NSW, Australia. The practice-led research project titled, Big Blue Ball: Pictures, people, place engaged in a creative dialogue with over 150 young adults from 95 nationalities over a four year period. The purpose of the project was to encourage a sharing of ideas amongst a diverse range of cultures through individuals responding to a selection of images that had been modified to enhance meaning ambiguity. The project creatively explored how meaning is negotiated when these visual texts are exposed to the variant cultural memory codes of individual participants. Participants were encouraged to make use of the visual and creative arts to freely express their ideas in a creative form of their choice. The project was then extended, through a continuing interchange of ideas between Donna and project participants, culminating in the creation of over 200 miniature paintings on 10x10x1cm wooden blocks that were magnetized for display and further engagement. The project outcomes have been exhibited in Australia and overseas.