"It's not so much about the object itself, but it's about it as a vehicle for imagination creativity and vision," Perschke's assistant Rebeccah Kardong said. "So people can come up and they look at it and they think why is this here? And then they start picturing maybe where they want to see it and it takes the individual on that sort of individual."
It's also about interaction.
"The responses are as varied as humanity which is really exciting. But a lot of times, the questions will run the gamut. The physical reactions will as well, a lot of jumping up against it, kicking punching, touching, kissing," Kardong said.
"It's just it's a huggable sort of a thing," Sargon Elia said, who kissed the sculpture. "I don't know, it's very warm and inviting. This sort of represented mother's love, embracing to me."
For some, the ball represents successful marketing.
"I think big red ball, what is that advertising wise? Target," Marq Hollingsworth said.
For others, it's an interesting new experience.
"I came to meet a friend of mine who is bringing her 84 year old mother to see the ball. We figured this would be a great opportunity for her to just see the city in a new way. To add a little excitement to her life, we hope," Chicagoan Maggie Hahn Wade said.
Although the ball leaves no physical mark on its location once it's deflated, it will live on in the pictures and memories of passersby. The ball will continue to travel throughout the city for all of September.
Schedule and Locations
September 1
11 am - 6 pm
Millennium Park (Michigan Ave. and Randolph St.)
September 3
11 am - 6 pm
Spertus Museum (610 S. Michigan Ave.)
September 5
11 am - 6 pm
Wishbone Restaurant (1001 W Washington Blvd.)
September 6
11 am - 4 pm
Field Museum (1400 S. Lake Shore Drive)
September 7
11 am - 6 pm Grant Park
Museum Campus pedestrian underpass (Lake Shore Drive at Roosevelt Rd.)
September 10
11 am - 6 pm
Seventeenth Church of Christ, Scientist (55 E. Wacker at Wabash Ave.)
September 12
11 am - 6 pm
LaSalle St. Bridge (LaSalle at Wacker Ave.)
September 13
11 am - 6 pm
Damen Ave. & North Ave.
September 14
11 am - 6 pm
Chess Pavilion, North Ave at the Lakefront
September 17
11 am - 6 pm
Union Station & Jackson (444 W. Jackson Blvd)
September 19
11 am - 6 pm
Hyde Park Art Center (5020 S. Cornell Ave.)
September 20
10 am - 5 pm
IIT's McCormick Tribune Campus Center (3201 South State St.)
September 23
11 am - 6 pm
19 S. LaSalle St.
September 24
11 am - 6 pm
Federal Plaza (230 S. Dearborn St.)
September 25
10 am - 5 pm
Chicago Cultural Center (South Entrance, 78 E. Washington St.)
