It’s the ball that doesn’t want to play.

A small, unassuming ball has human interactions expected of it. It should roll, play and bring joy. Yet, this ball reacts to your instigation of playing by extending four legs to stop it from rolling and makes it uncomfortable to hold. The ball transforms from a sphere to a pyramid. The ball is like a blowfish, it makes itself bigger to prevent playing.The irony is that your interaction with the ball leads to inaction–to put it down and let it be. One put down for a few moments, the ball will retract its legs and return back to its innocent, ball state.

The slow extension of the legs, the tug of the skin and the whirl of the motors in each of the legs gives a comforting hint at the electronics hidden within. The design was meant to make it unassuming and sensual, building a greater bond with and emotive mapping onto the object

In collaboration with
Magdalena Naydekova & Nick Croft