"Some People Are On The Pitch"

For any fan of England these words are immortal. They were spoken by Kenneth Wolstenholme, the legendary commentator, towards the end of the World Cup final in 1966, just seconds before Geoff Hurst scored the third goal. If you want to know more about this then go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RE-wKAooU20

The night before the exhibition me and Susana walked past the gallery and saw what looked like childish scribbles on paper in the window. We both agreed that this is not art and a 5 year-old child could do better. We attended the opening the next day anyway, and were pleasantly surprised by what we found inside. Firstly, I have to explain that I'm a football fanatic, though Susana hates the game, but even she was fascinated by what she saw. I'll let the artist explain his creations for himself. There are then some pictures of the exhibition, then there's an exclusive live interview with David from outside the gallery.

Here is the blurb for the exhibition (which has now finished) from the website of the artist, David Marsh.

'Some People Are On The Pitch'

The project traces the movement of the players throughout the 1966 World cup final between England and West Germany to create a 'portrait' of the nation's most treasured sporting victory.

Created by mapping archive footage at 1/2 real speed, using the pitch markings and the stripes of the cut grass as a coordinate system, the work follows the movement of each player against time, on and off the ball, as they move across the 'field' of play throughout the full 90 minutes, plus extra time.

The recorded information is then coded through a system of line type, weight and colour to allow the narrative of the recorded information to be represented and read graphically, producing a work simultaneously latent with an immense level of information, and one seemingly abstract in its aesthetic.

The exhibition consists of each player's individual traces, split into playing segments, and culminates in a final piece which combines the full team, stitched from the same material as the famous red shirts worn by England in the final, and black to represent the Germans, to form a 'match portrait.'

Here are some pics of our favourites pieces

And here are some pics from the exhibition that Susana took

David is in the middle in the above picture

And, as promised, here is the interview with David Marsh, the first in a seies of interviews with the artists

It's a shame that this exhibition is over, but from now on I'm gonna be more on the ball (geddit?) and keep this blog more up-to-date.

Coming soon: I'll be uploading some more pics of the street art soon so keep an eye out for that. Plus, more exhibition highlights next week.

mancpete