Fields of Vision: the Arts in Sport

FIELDS OF VISION: THE ARTS IN SPORT Editors Doug Sandle Jonathan Long Jim Parry Karl Spracklen LSA Publication No. 125 Fields of Vision: The Arts in Sport Editors Doug Sandle, Jonathan Long, Jim Parry, Karl Spracklen LSA LSA Publication No. 125 ii Felds of Vson: The Arts n Sport Frst publshed n 2013 by Lesure Studes Assocaton The Chelsea School Unversty of Brghton Eastbourne BN20 7SP (UK) The collecton as a whole © 2013 LSA. The ndvdual contrbutons © 2013 the respectve authors. All rghts reserved. No part of ths publcaton may be reproduced or transmtted n any form or by any means wthout permsson n wrtng from the LSA. A catalogue record for ths book s avalable from the Brtsh Lbrary. ISBN: 978 1 905369 43 0 (prnt) Cover photo Jason Mnsky (Vdeo stll, Mare Liberum) Cover desgn and book page layout Myrene L. McFee Prnted n the UK by Antony Rowe, Eastbourne iii Contents Edtors’ Introducton Jonathan Long, Jim Parry, Doug Sandle, Karl Spracklen . v About the Contrbutors . .x Every Stadum Should Have an Art Gallery Doug Sandle . 1 Performng Vctory n Mexco Cty, San José and Martnque Mike O’Mahony . 23 The Therry Henry Statue: A Hollow Icon? Ffion Thomas and Chris Stride . 33 Sex, Class and the Crtque of Sport n Lndsay Anderson’s This Sporting Life Tony Collins . 53 From V to Y: Leeds Unted and Northern Realst Wrters Anthony Clavane. 63 Opera Man and the Meetng of ‘Tastes’ Jonathan Long . 73 The Sportng Image: Engagng Students and Staff n Creatvty Iain Adams and Clive Palmer . 85 Movement Insde, Movement Outsde: The Arts, Creatvty and Sport Julian Manley . 99 Kick It Out: Art, Sport and Pedagogy Nigel D. Morpeth . 119 Extreme Exposures: The Practce and Narratves of Channel Swmmng as a Methodology for the Creaton of Contemporary Art Lisa Stansbie . 131 Jump and Draw: An Interdscplnary Project Usng Art and Sport to Create a Thrd Space of Learnng n Prmary School Educaton Paul Digby and Liz Stirling . 147 Create The Physcal: move and the Art of Human Movement Tessa Gordziejko . 163 Appendx. 175 Other Volumes from LSA Publcatons. 197 v v Editors’ Introduction Jonathan Long*, Jim Parry**, Doug Sandle* and Karl Spracklen* *Leeds Metropolitan University; **University of Leeds The Felds of Vson one-day conference on the arts and sport took place at Headngley Carnege Stadum on the 30th November 2012. Convened by Leeds Rugby Arts (Leeds Rugby Foundaton) n assocaton wth the Research Insttute for Sport, Physcal Actvty and Lesure (RISPAL) at Leeds Metropoltan Unversty, ts ntal am was to brng together ndvduals and organsatons from the arts, sport and culture wth an nterest n the hstorcal, contemporary and future role of the arts n sport. Gven the hgh profile involvement of culture and the arts with sport during the Cultural Olympad (the four years leadng up to the Games of the XXX Olympad n London, 2012) t was envsaged that Felds of Vson would provde an appo- ste opportunty for sharng experence, dscussng ssues and establshng an mpetus for future ntatves for the arts n sport. An assocated Felds of Vson Arts Programme, supported by Arts Councl England, was conceved to provde conference attendees and a wder publc a more drect experence of the creatve arts and ther contemporary relatonshp to sport. Fields of Vision, while also enabling arts practitioners to benefit from its opportuntes for networkng and professonal development, led to twelve new works n vsual art, poetry, performance and the producton of a DVD of examples of contemporary art practce related to sport. Wth a conference that ncluded academcs, researchers, arts practtoners, cultural pro- ducers and polcy-makers, Felds of Vson addressed professonal practce n the context of hstory, theory and polcy. In keepng wth the tradtons of the Lesure Studes Assocaton, the conference brought together dfferent consttuents of lesure, n ths case the arts and sports. Accordngly, sev- eral aspects of the nature of this relationship are exemplified by the papers selected for ncluson n ths book; t s a relatonshp that encompasses, and has mplcatons for, both theory and practce. v v Editors’ Introduction Doug Sandle’s ntroductory chapter explores some of the many facets of the relaton between sport and art. Frst, sport as the subject of art, not just the depcton of sportng events and occasons, but also the exploraton of the aesthetic qualities, social and political significance of sport. Then, art in tandem wth sport, for example, De Coubertn’s vson of the Olympc Games (and the ntenton of the Cultural Olympad) as a ‘fuson’ of sport and art, as provdng ‘opportuntes’ for the arts, and as runnng alongsde sportng events and festvals. Further, art may occur n sportng venues and clubs — as an expresson and celebraton of achevement and of the cultural meanng of sport; often created by artsts n resdence. Fnally, sport may share the qualtes of art (narratve, drama, theatrcalty) and artsts usng sport as materal for art. Throughout the chapter hovers one of the central questons of the book: whether sport can be art, and whether our aesthetc percepton of sportng movement gves grounds for artstc apprecaton. One of the most conc sportng moments of all tme (the Black Power pro- test by Smth and Carlos at the 1968 Olympcs n Mexco Cty) s the subject of the art examned by Mike O’Mahony. He s nterested n how that transgressve sportng moment (or was t an artstc performance n ts own rght?) has been represented artstcally. In partcular he s nterested n a statue erected at San José State Unversty (Calforna) where Smth and Carlos were students, and how the sportng moment has become a transgressve pece of art. Intrgungly, the paper s oblged to consder that whch s not there as Peter Norman s mssng from the podum represented n the statue. O’Mahony demonstrates how sport and ts vsual representaton nteract to “convey complex deas concernng sport’s vtal soco-hstorcal and poltcal role n the modern world”. The art, however, does not convey the heavy per- sonal prce Smth and Carlos had to pay. The use of art n sport stadums s ncreasng and n partcular statues are often used to celebrate club heroes as well as to further the corporate agen- das of club ownershp and management. Ffion Thomas and Chris Stride document the role of art and desgn n the relocaton of Arsenal football club from Hghbury to the new Emrates Stadum. In partcular they examne the tensons between fans and owners and the soluton adopted of a process of ‘Arsenalisation’, defined as “turning the Gunners’ home into a very visible stronghold of all thngs Arsenal”. Thomas and Strde analyse the part played n hs process by the creaton of three statues n the new stadum, ncludng one of Therry Henry. Such statues they argue carry multple meanngs vary- ng between vewers and also over tme and are as such ‘hollow cons’, con- veyng messages about a club’s belefs, deology and culture. In concluson t Editors’ Introduction vii s argued that t “wll mperceptbly morph nto both a nostalgc mage and an object of nostalga, provdng Arsenal wth a ‘hollow con’ that changes meanng yet represents contnuty, communty and ownershp”. Davd Storey’s famous 1960 book, This Sporting Life, and ts subsequent re-casting in the film of the same name, is the subject of a sustained critique n Tony Collins’ chapter. The sport of the tale s that of rugby league n the workng-class communtes of the north of England. The lead character n the story, Machn, s a tough man who uses hs skll and strength to make somethng of a career and a name n the game — but whle hs success brngs some rewards, these are fleeting. Collins shows how the book and the film use sexual transgresson, sexualty and class to hghlght the key role played by sport n twenteth-century England: that of preservng the gender order of hegemonc masculnty. In a rather dfferent style Anthony Clavane consders how hs own love affar wth Leeds Unted sts n the context of northern wrters and ther relatonshp wth sport. For Clavane ths has to be understood n the context of the ‘contradctory narratve of northern realsm’ partcularly evdent n the late 1950s and 1960s. He sees Leeds Unted under Don Reve as the eptome of ths northern realsm, cast n the role of Blly Lar. Clavane argues that despte many soco-economc and sportng changes the ‘sense of vctm- hood’ as connected to a sense of dentty has perssted, and despte the great contribution made to British culture, can be seen reflected in the work of more recent wrters too. Jonathan Long’s chapter ntroduces John Innes, also known as ‘Opera Man’, a snger who has become part of the match-day entertanment at the stadum of Brtsh rugby league team the Leeds Rhnos. Long uses hs own experence of beng n the crowd, alongsde a seres of conversatons and ntervews wth fans of the club, to show how Innes and hs songs more generally have been receved. Long’s chapter uses Bourdeu’s deas of ‘taste cultures’ to dscuss the ways n whch rugby league n Brtan has tred to re- nvent tself as a modern, mddle-class lesure spectacle, through the launch of the Super League and match-day entertanment ptched to bourgeos taste. He shows that the fans he ntervewed accept Opera Man as a way n whch the club makes tself dstnctve from other clubs. Iain Adams and Clive Palmer dscuss nnovatve pedagogcal methods they have used n teachng sports studes students how to thnk about the meanng and purpose of sport through art.

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