Bliz-aard Ball Sale

On the corner of Cooper Square, opposite Cooper Union where Hammons taught lessons on material specificity and conceptual reverb, David Hammons laid out a North African rug, arranged various snowballs of different sizes and began selling his wares. Alongside counterfeit designer good, jewellery and army surplus vendors, wearing inconspicuous garb, Hammons was making a statement. The nature of that statement, even after 40 years of academic analysis, remains vague. Hammons, one of the most important contemporary artists, has always existed with intention outside of reach of the art world. The work is almost an idiom, the literal action absurd and ephermeral. It is a work with the sole purpose to evade us, or as Hammons says, ‘don’t you know, chasing these stories is what is is?’.