New Media will have a very busy summer, both inside and out.

Regarding the great outdoors, we plan on installing more of the bird cams in 100 Acres.  You may have seen this video, but our hope is to capture more activity of the critters that inhabit the park (hopefully a fox!), as well as the changes that will take place this summer with construction and the beginning of art installations.  We’ll be on hand to try and capture all the activity and of course snag as many artist interviews as possible for ArtBabble.  It’s not a bad time to wander out into nature with a video camera.

100 Acres, you should check it out sometime

Speaking of ArtBabble, we’re working very hard on growing the site and adding content.  From IMA’s perspective, that includes our own agressive approach to producing video content, which will focus on visiting artists, exhibition related pieces and a major documentary (more on that in a future post).  The broader strategy for ArtBabble is to grow engaging and innovative content from other AB partners.  This means more videos and more museums.  I speak for everyone at IMA when I say we’re excited about the new crop of organizations joining ArtBabble.

And if we weren’t busy enough, we’re also developing a handheld tour for the upcoming Sacred Spain exhibition.  This handheld experience will function on an iPod Touch and will be available at the IMA during the exhibition.  Charlie, Ed, Matt and Rob have all been busy developing the framework for the application itself.  For most of the summer, we will be working very closely with curatorial, education and design staff to develop and shape the visitor experience of this handheld tour.  We will focus heavily on building connections to the impressive works of art in the exhibition by using video, audio, high res imagery and a couple of other tricks up our sleeve.  The main goal is not the technology itself (although I think it’s cool), but the content or stories we tell to help our visitors discover connections to the artists or their works.  It’s a process much easier said than done.  But much more on this in another post.  In the meantime, enjoy a current mock-up of part of the interface.

Early interface design

So, what are your summer plans?

I also owe a lot to football and it’s something I’m always willing to discuss, play or watch. It’s even more appropriate to discuss today and even into the summer. In a matter of hours, over in Moscow, the Champions League Final kicks off featuring an all-English match up of Chelsea FC and Manchester United FC (I’m rooting for Man U). In a matter of a few weeks (17 days to be exact), the European Championships begin, sadly without England, but I’ll be rooting for the Orange Crush (that would be the Dutch National Team) and glued to every game I can catch on TV.
Every two years I become transfixed with the World Cup or Euro Championships – and it is heaven. I remember beautiful goals as if they were works of art and the players that create them (Pele, Maradona, Cruyff and Zidane) like artists – but I excitedly digress and this is where I bring this post back to planet art museum. With all this football on my mind, I decided to research contemporary works of art and artists influenced by or featuring this sport.

Here’s what I found:

Local artist Artur Silva is pretty cool and not because I can have a conversation about Gordon Banks with him. Artur is Brazilian which means he has the luxury of supporting some of the best teams in the history of the game. I remember watching the 2002 World Cup game between England and Brazil in a bar as Brazilian fans samba’d around me celebrating their victory. It was painful loss for an England fan, but it really opened my eyes to the beauty of Brazilian soccer. Around the same time, I came across this piece by Artur Silva and it brought back so many memories of Pele, the game, the history. So thank you to Artur for that.

I’ve written about it before, but I don’t mind beating a dead horse. Zinedine Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait is an impressive cinematic work of art that depicts the beautiful game and one of the games greatest players ever, Zizou. Directed by Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno, it features stunning camera work (all 17 of them), a mesmerizing soundtrack by Mogwai and clever, thoughtful editing. Do whatever you can to find this video.

Fellow blogger Phillip sent this link to me ages ago and I went nuts. German artist Susken Rosenthal creates individual portraits of specific football matches by sketching and tracking the ball movement in real time. The result is similar to that of a seismographic drawing. To someone not familiar with soccer, it may not make sense. To me it’s a work of art.

And in short -

Mexican artist Gabriel Orozco not only plays soccer but has also depicted it in some of his work. Check it out here.

Here’s an interesting piece by Brian Jungen that synthesizes Nike silver soccer balls made to resemble lava rock.

Turkish artist Omer Ali Kazma created a video installation on Turkish team, Galatasaray featuring footage from over 8 months of work. I would love to see this somehow. Can anyone help me out?

And that’s all I’ve got…for now. If you’ve made it this far and want to contribute any recommendations for contemporary artists and football, please leave me a comment.

In the meantime, enjoy this Maradona goal scored against England in the 1986 World Cup. Painful for me to watch, but quite possibly a work of art.