DLG187_ Ken Johnson talks about the lives of his human non-humans, Ball and Cone.

Ken Johnson started a project about 5 years ago titled Ball and Cone. http://ballandcone.tumblr.com/ Ball and Cone are simply the life and experiences of an anthropomorphized ball and an anthropomorphized cone duo in a comic style format. Ball and Cone have no sex or human identity, just one eye each, and they are adorably compelling and funny. They are very simple but explore questions and ideas that can be very complex, such as the meaning of existence and what is mirth? BUY THE BOOK here: https://www.amazon.com/Ball-Cone-Ken-Johnson/dp/1729735851/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1548880981&sr=8-15&keywords=ball+and+cone It was fascinating to talk with Ken about this work and the more than one thousand of drawings he's done for this project., the role it’s taken on in his daily life (he does about one a day) and the dialogue he has with his followers. I think the biggest surprise to me was to find out his largest audience is children, many from far-flung parts of the globe. The uniqueness in this work is how it can be accessed on the simplest level—drawings that communicate immediately to anyone—and how the ideas explored in these cartoons are also incredibly complex and philosophical-that is if you think about what is going on in the images, besides your initial reaction to its humor. To date Ken has created an in depth Tumblr, a more edited instagram as well as 2 books available on Amazon. Follow Ball and Cone here: https://www.instagram.com/ball_and_cone_/ Ken Johnson was born 1953 in Montclair New Jersey. Johnson is an American art critic. Johnson is a writer for the arts pages of The New York Times, where he covers gallery and museum exhibits. Johnson attended Brown University and State University of New York at Albany, earning a degree in art from the former in 1976 and a master’s degree in studio art, with a concentration in painting, from the latter in 1977. In his journalism career he has written on contemporary art for several art magazines, newspapers and publications. He published for the Art Review in the New York Times, doing reviews for artists in NYC such as Don Doe and was the art critic for the Boston Globe from 2006-2007.