The National Gallery of Victoria and the AFL may not be the most obvious bedfellows, but for three hours this weekend, these worlds will collide. Walk through the gallery doors between 2-5pm on Sunday and you’ll find five AFL and AFLW players – Annie Mack, Jason Ball, Jasper Pittard, Jim Marks and Simona Castricum – being strung up in the Great Hall foyer, their bodies contorting around rope to become living works of art.
This is the Melbourne iteration of Still Lives, which forms a part of the Rising arts festival lighting up the city this winter. Helmed by artists Luke George and Daniel Kok, Still Lives uses human bodies and rope to recreate iconic images; when they performed Still Lives at the Venice Biennale in 2019, it centred on the gondola, a symbol of the Italian city. When it came to Melbourne, AFL was the obvious choice, especially after the pandemic ground entertainment and culture in the city to a halt – now that everything has reopened, how and where does art and sport intersect?
“AFL is intertwined with so many important social issues that are relevant to Melbourne,” says Kok. “As we work with the football players, anything about their own personal narratives, their own relationships to growing up in the city and playing the game, all become part of the fabric that we’re weaving together.”
At Still Lives Melbourne, the athletes’ bodies will recreate Minang and Inggarda player Andrew Krakouer’s award-winning mark for Collingwood in 2011, an image that struck both artists for its choreographic form.
“I’ve always been interested in sports photography, because you see all these players in very dynamic positions, and it happens really fast,” says Kok. “The idea of this split-second moment extended over three hours, taking time to tie the players one by one to get them as close as possible to that image – that really excited us.”
There’s a strong intersectional element to the installation, which runs alongside the NGV’s major Queer exhibition. Both artists are gay, and the participating players include members of the LGBTQ+ community, activists and First Nations people. “Not having any relationship to footy, the process started through personal connections with queer people,” George says. “Footy is in this reckoning moment, where it’s starting to really expand to be a more inclusive space.”
Spectators will see the artists work with the players to string them up – a slow, reflective process. It’s as much about the before and during as the after: the build-up and the connection that engenders. Part of the joy and complexity of the installation will only become evident on the day.
“We’ll massage them into a meditative state with us, calmly going through the steps and gradually being ready for the suspension. Then everybody will finally be suspended in that crescendo moment, where everybody is rising up into the air together,” Kok says. “It’s a real journey not just for us, but also for the audience.”
George anticipates that curious spectators will include “people who are avid footy fans, people who are there because of Rising, and people who like rope bondage – something fascinating can come from creating this space.”
“For these different groups of people to intersect in one event is something we’re very excited by, having all of them looking at the same thing,” says Kok. “What happens when they see each other, when they spot that somebody who is watching is different to themselves, or watching in a different way? To us, that is a very big political question.”
Still Lives will start at 2pm in the Great Hall of the NGV International in Melbourne, on Sunday 5 June, as part of Rising festival. Entry is free
