It is curious to see an object designed for children’s amusement lose its original function and become a work to be observed. That is what happens with A Certain Kind of Falling, the sculpture created in 2026 by Ken Kelleher, also known as Anchorball. The artist starts from an immediately recognizable form, that of a playground slide, and transforms it into an imposing architectural structure, in which curves and proportions seem to defy the natural direction of movement.

The work is part of Elemental, a series through which Kelleher investigates the relationship between matter, gravity and form. Here the slide is no longer a piece of equipment meant to bring someone down, but a sculptural presence that preserves the memory of the gesture for which it was designed, while carrying it into a completely different dimension. The familiar trajectory turns into a monumental curve, almost an impossible path, which seems to suggest a movement without really indicating a destination.

The result plays with the expectations of the viewer: we immediately recognize the object, but something in its scale and configuration prevents us from reading it as before. It is precisely in this gap that Kelleher’s research takes place, as he is interested in removing everyday forms from their apparent simplicity and presenting them in a new light. In A Certain Kind of Falling, even an elementary gesture like sliding becomes an opportunity to reflect on balance, direction and the perception of space.