The rubber band ball

As a kid I remember reading a book about a boy who had a big ball of string. Surprisingly it was called “A big ball of string” - I think I still have that book somewhere. He started with one small piece and as the story evolved he collected more and more until he had a big ball of string. It’s a predictable story but its one that sticks in my mind

A couple of years ago I had an open day at my studio. During the big clean up I realised I had collected a number of rubber bands, typically from deliveries and bundles of post. From out of nowhere “A big ball of string” appeared in my mind and the chance had come for me to emulateI it but in my own way. I had often looked enviously at others with rubber band balls on their desk and here I was with the main ingredient, my time had come!

On the open day while waiting for my visitors I began my quest. Mine was to be a purist rubber band ball. I wasn't going to start with a small ball or other spherical object… that would be cheating. As anyone who has tried to make one of these would know, starting is the hardest part. In-between visitors I would attempt to get my band ball started. This proved to be frustrating as every time I almost had the nucleus to by ball a visitor would arrive and my efforts would explode before my eyes! I couldn’t wait for the visitors to leave so I could focus my efforts on my new challenge.

By the end of that first day and quite surprisingly I had a result… not very impressive but a result. If you want to follow along this page can be found here :www.littlebuildingco.com/the-back-of-an-envelope