BREAD AND SOCCER, In the Arena of Art
April 17, 2008
Press Release
Throughout much of the world, soccer has long been more than just a sport. It is a cultural phenomenon, an arena in which local rivalries and national dramas have been played out long before satellite broadcasting made it possible for games to be beamed around the world and experienced simultaneously by hundreds of millions of viewers. Even as professional baseball, football, basketball and hockey attract bigger audiences in the United States, there is nothing that compares with soccer as a game that is truly played around the world.
In June 2008, Austria and Switzerland play host to the European championship soccer tournament UEFA Euro 2008™. On this occasion, the Austrian Cultural Forum has commissioned an exhibition Bread and Soccer: in the arena of art that explores not only the magical flowing rhythm of the game itself but the unique energy and identity that soccer fans have brought to the sport. Eleven artists (like the eleven players on a soccer team) present works that suggest ways in which the cult of spectatorship meets the culture of participation.
Artists
Curated by Trevor Smith and Jürgen Weishäupl
Commissioned and Produced by Andreas Stadler
Exhibition Coordination| Elisabeth Haider
Exhibition Assistance| Natascha Boojar | Catharina Coreth | Stephanie Pereira | Maria Simma | Susanne Zöhrer
Admission to all ACF exhibitions, concerts, and other events is free.
Gallery hours: Monday through Saturday from 10am to 6pm.
The Austrian Cultural Forum is located at 11 East 52nd Street in Manhattan.
For additional information call 212.319.5300 or visit www.acfny.org.
Opening events: Wednesday | May 28, 2008 | 5pm - 10pm
Panel Discussion with Artists and Curators | 5pm
Opening Reception | 6pm - 8pm
Curators’ Guided Tour of the Exhibition: Thursday | May 29, 2008 | 11am
Exhibition dates: May 29 to September 13 | 2008
Gallery hours: Monday - Saturday | 10 am - 6 pm
you want to meet these guys at the ACFNY?
April 7, 2008
David Roth, Jozy Altidore
http://redbulls.theoffside.com/
A few pictures of the Foosball Table
March 29, 2008
About the Foosball Tounaments and Fan Shop
March 28, 2008
I have been invited to be part of the art exhibition, “Bread & Soccer” at the Austrian Cultural Forum New York City that begins May 28th and runs through the end of Augues. A foosball table created by Frank Scheiderbauer and myself is the center-piece of my project. The table, or better, a rolling flight-case that unfolds to become a foosball table, has the dimensions of a professional Austrian table and can be used as one. Our first table, built in 1994, traveled around Austria bringing together soccer stars, their fans, artists, and the “foosball fans”.
I am interested in all of these groups of people, and the social interaction between these different groups is one of my main interests. I am also very interested in juxtaposing and co-mingling the atmosphere of a soccer game with that of an art gallery. As in an actual sporting event, an announcer will provide a play-by-play for each tournament match as well as rev up the crowd. The setting will be the Austrian Cultural Forum NYC, where members of the New York Red Bulls will play against lucky members of the crowd. The tournament will be treated like a big sports event, and will lead into an after-party with a DJ and drinks.
We expect there to be three tournaments throughout the show.
Requirements during the tournaments includes:
- 2 extra tables
- Start around 7pm - late
- Entertainer/Sports ModeratorMusic/DJ
- Beer and Wine has to be available
- Trophies – Gold, Silver and Bronze (Sculptured by me)
To start a buzz about the tournaments at the Austrian Cultural Forum NYC I will show up with the flight-case cum foosball table in various places around New York City. I will begin stages these public tournaments this spring, and plan to show-up in places such as Union Square, Williamsburg, Prospect Park, Central Park, just before the beginning of NY Red Bull Games in the parking lot of the Giants Stadium, in the subway, etc. I will also have a tournament once each week in my gallery in Brooklyn.
This blog will be used to promote these events, as well as to feature the voices and ideas for the entire exhibition.
FAN SHOP
To stimulate public participation I will also create fan-wear to imitate a “non-defined“ team. The items will be simple, interesting, and colorful - T-Shirts, Shopping Bags, Boxer shorts, scarves, etc. These items will be available at the Austrian Cultural Forum for exchange only, none of it available for sale. Exchanged items that are collected over the course of the exhibition will become part of the fan shop . This action will serve to individualize the masses. Participants will have to tell their own personal stories as part of the process of exchanging their belongings. It will also serve to create another level of communication.
By “non-defined” I mean that the team will not be given a name, but instead, a branded identity. In this way, participants can be incorporated into the fan-structure of a branded team. What team do they belong to? Is it just a team against a team, in this case the Red Bulls?
The exchange system will open up new possibilities to experiment with the non-defined fans and their fan-wear. It will be as simple as a goods exchange was centuries ago, when sports in this organized form originated. Sports, and in particular Soccer, has grown since then, drawing record masses worldwide to games in demonstrations of unity and excitement; but also disappointment and hate.
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