Douglas Gordon & Philippe Parreno
Zidane, A 21st Century Portrait, 2006
Palomar Pictures & Anna Lena Films
PLUG IN # 48
ZIDANE, A 21st CENTURY PORTRAIT
VAN ABBEMUSEUM
Eindhoven - The Netherlands
02/28/09 - ongoing
On February 28, 2009, the Van Abbemuseum opened the installation Zidane, A 21st Century Portrait by the artists Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno, episode #48 of Plug In. Zidane, A 21st Century Portrait (2006), is a portrait on film of Zinédine Zidane, one of the most famous soccer players in the world. During a match between Spanish football club Real Madrid (for whom Zidane played at the time) and Villarreal F.C. in Madrid on April 23, 2005, 17 synchronised cameras were focused on Zidane. The 2-channel video installation at the Van Abbemuseum has the same duration as the football match and consists of two video screens, one showing the edited version of the match, the other a synchronized edit of the footage from the cameras that were focused on Zidane. Viewers will be plunged into all facets of the universe of an athlete in action and will have the sensation of 'moving alongside' Zidane throughout the entire game. Zidane, A 21st Century Portrait, produced by Palomar Pictures and Anna Lena Films, was shown at the Cannes film festival in 2006, which is rather unusual for a work of art. The music for the film was composed by Mogwai, the international rock band from Glasgow.
For the artists it was in many ways Zidane's personality that made the portrait necessary. The elegance of his game and his charisma made the decision for the two artists slash football fans an obvious one. The video made by Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno is a unique collaboration of two artists in creating this portrait. Throughout the history of art, artists have painted portraits because it was the most direct way of depicting humanity. A portrait brings to life moments in time. Inspired by the film portraits made by Andy Warhol in the 1960's, the artists chose film as their medium. "Photography and film correspond to the attempts in our time to depict the face of humanity on the scale of time. Our lives take place within a protocol of time. It was for this reason in particular that we chose to create a portrait using cameras instead of canvas or paper. While drawing and painting create two-dimensional works, a portrait on film inexorably becomes a multidimensional work. You see things in this film you never see on TV, like his hands, his gestures. That comes from painting techniques: watching out for gestures, moving fingers. These things offer us information about a person." For Zidane, the portrait was a unique opportunity to have a game commemorated for all time. He is very satisfied with the result "I recognize myself, it's really me, and that's exactly what I live every Sunday. With more emotion in some parts and less in others. That's it. All I hope now is that the film captivates the public the way it captivated me."
