The Acid Ball - Waypoint Park, Bellingham, WA

The Acid Ball is a large-scale public artwork and the centerpiece of a recently completed new waterfront park located on Whatcom Waterway in Bellingham, WA. The large globular steel sphere is a relic from the pulp mill formerly on that site. Our project sought to both pay homage to the sites industrial past while simultaneously giving the relic a new future.

With this project we asked ourselves “What is the smallest biggest move that we can make?”

Our proposal took simple approach with one MACRO move at an urban scale, and one MICRO move, at a molecular scale. We relocated the 32’ diameter ball to the water’s edge where it aligned with the view corridors of the city. By repositioning the ball to the shore, it becomes a beacon from land and water and a visual terminus to the existing axis of the courthouse stair. At night it becomes a beacon anchoring the new waterfront park.

For the micro move we coated the rusted surface of the ball with an industrial clear coat and a layer of high index glass beads. This is the same material used to create the reflective markings on highways and runways. These retroreflective glass beads have the unusual property of intensifying light and reflecting it back in same direction. This humble material makes the surface of the sphere highly reflective and gives it a preternatural presence. We are fascinated by the way light interacts with the coating under a variety of atmospheric and artificial light.