Disco Jockey

Ball of diffusion: Joy Feasley with her creation. Photo By: Michael T. Regan

Joy Feasley's Gazing Disco Ball

by Angelina Sciolla

If you've ever cruised a neighborhood where the residents favor lawn jockeys and birdbaths, then you have undoubtedly seen the mysterious glass ball. About the size of a bowling ball, the gazing ball sits knowingly atop its stand amid the bushes and flower beds. Artist Joy Feasley has created an updated version of this ornamental stalwart. Replacing the delicate glass version with a disco ball purchased at a flea market for $5, Feasley added some glitter to the community garden of her Fishtown neighborhood. Resting on the base of an old $19.99 Ikea Fackla lamp, which Feasley decorated with glass mosaic tiles, the gazing disco ball retains the magical powers of warding off evil spirits (one of the purported uses of the ball) and serves as a focal point from whence you can view the garden reflected in thousands of trippy little tiles.

Make Your Own Gazing Disco Ball

You'll need:

1 disco ball. You can pick one up at a flea market, yard sale or just steal one from somebody's old rec room.
1 base. This can be of the Styrofoam variety from an art supply store, the base of an old lamp, or even a sturdy plant stand. Feasley recommends the Fackla lamp base because "it [is] kind of the shape I was looking for, it came with a weight which I cable-tied in to the middle section, and I can use the lamp fixture for another project!" She adds that a 30-inch-tall base is what you should be shooting for, and that she's seen ceramic and glass vases that would also do the trick.
2 1/2-inch tubes of Liquid Nails, which comes in caulk-gun tubes.
Glass tiles for the mosaic design on the base. Feasley recommends Arch Street Plastics at 12th and Pine streets.

What you do:

Using Liquid Nails, affix the glass tiles to the base. Since Liquid Nails "skins up quickly (the surface dries but the glue is still, er, gluey)," says Feasley, she recommends "working in small, 6-inch-by-6-inch areas at a time."
Attach the disco ball to the top of the base with the Liquid Nails. "I would recommend a generous squeeze all the way around the top rim of the base," says Feasley.
Let the whole thing sit for 24 hours before bringing it outside.
Find a high-visibility spot where all the neighbors can admire your yard accoutrement.

Feasley will donate the gazing disco ball pictured here to the MANNA auction; the last one she made fetched $500 to benefit the ICA.