The Big
Giant Bra Ball -- an amalgamation of every color, condition and
cup size -- is
conceptional art satirizing people's obsession with
body image, created by artist
Nicolino, who goes only by his last name.
A
Bay area man, Nicolino also affixes
naked Barbie dolls to the trailer hitch that helps pull the piece behind a
1963 pink Cadillac.
"I'm not knocking her. I'd like her as an ally," he said. "But she has to have breast implants and an eating disorder."
Nicolino and his 14,000 tightly wound
brassieres are currently on a two-month trek through
California. The bra-ball tour is just one of several brassiere-related art shows Nicolino has put on throughout the world over the last eight years. He's produced
sculptures and
tapestries and even
choreographed a dance in
Stinson Beach, Calif., to produce
21,000 breasts from damp sand and
Jell-O molds. Many of these productions have raised money for
breast-cancer research.
Women literally have given Nicolino the bras off their backs. Others have mailed him bras, some in memory of a loved one who died of breast cancer. A bright pink one from
Laguna Beach carries the message "Obladi, Oblada, take my bra." Another -- white with pink crochet lettering -- reads "In Loving Memory of Our Dear Mom."