Human Game:
Winners and Losers
HUMAN GAME: WINNERS AND LOSERS
a Fondazione Pitti Discovery production
on the occasion of Pitti Immagine Uomo 70
22 June / 21 July 2006
opening 21 June 2006
curated by Francesco Bonami, Maria Luisa Frisa and Stefano Tonchi
concept Hola Jeffrey Inaba, Heather Flood, Jeffrey Johnson
Book-catalogue Charta Fondazione Pitti Discovery
Florence, Stazione Leopolda
www.pittimmagine.com
Human Game. Winners and Losers is a reflection on sport and its central role in contemporary society. Today, sport is a nerve point: it is the meeting point of passion and desire, science and research and a metaphor of existence as summarized by the sub-title, Winners and Losers. The aim of Human Game is to find the crucial bond between sport, in the sense of a recreational pastime, and social, political and cultural life The continuing spread of a vast sport mythology has changed habits, clothing styles and has prompted real revolutions. Human Game examines the metamorphosis of sport as it changed from play, competition, discipline and body care to universal spectacle that encompasses technology, fashion, art, business, medicine and communications.
Human Game is a book and an exhibition. Both will focus on five different themes, five as the number of Olympic circles, that can become the device for organizing sport and its image together with art, communications, design, fashion and pop culture, as well as all the social and political contrasts related to it: LIMIT, GAMES, MUTATION, TRADITION, FREEDOM.
LIMIT
speed, records, challenger, second skin, Lycra® GAMES
motion, action, contrast, team spirit, jersey MUTATION
prostheses, protection, muscles, athletic supporters, doping TRADITION
white, cotton, rule, WASP, tennis FREEDOM
antagonism, freestyle, no rules, philosophy, fisheye
These themes reflect the complexities of contemporary sports, and how sport champions influence other peoples lifestyles and fashions with their behavior. Art uses sport as a symbol and metaphor of life; fashion designers creations tell how fashion has been marked by sport and how sport has been affected by the lure of fashion. The only real innovations in fashion during the past decade have been in sports clothing: sports products have become signature items and influence fashion from streetstyle to haute couture. Sports are media phenomena for all intents and purposes and sports stars are true super-stars whose internationally recognized faces impact every kind of product. Lifestyles are truly becoming sport-ized.
The exhibition Human Game. Winners and Losers is staged along a path of more than 100 meters, in a spiral of gilded metal meshwork (diameter 11 meters) interrupted by five containers one for each theme made of materials used in sports (mats, ice, turf, asphalt, water). And, along this path are works of art, clothes, images, equipment and lots of other things that tell the story of the human game.
The book
an almanac, organized in five sections, each one marked by the color of Olympic circles, filled with images, texts and curiosities (about 500 pages with 600 illustrations). A co-publication by Fondazione Pitti Discovery and Charta.
Human Game. Winners and Losers is produced by the Fondazione Pitti Discovery and curated by Francesco Bonami, Maria Luisa Frisa and Stefano Tonchi; sport-fashion consultant Robert Rabensteiner, the book image and exhibition design are by Hola, a Los Angeles-based architecture studio, coordinated by Jeffrey Inaba.
The exhibition will open in Florence on 21 June 2006, on the occasion of Pitti Immagine Uomo 70 and negotiations are currently in progress to take it to other institutions in Europe and America.
Human Game is an initiative within the Florence 99% Contemporary, a calendar of events and international exhibitions that get started on the occasion of Pitti Immagine Uomo and go on for the whole summer.
At the exhibition and in the catalogue
FASHION SPORT: Adidas, Adidas Missy Elliott, Adidas Stella McCartney, Adidas Yohji Yamamoto, Aigle, Allegri, Arena, Giorgio Armani, Ballantyne Cashmere, Neil Barrett, Geoffrey Beene, Belstaff, Benetton, Bianchi Milano, Thom Browne, Canterbury of New Zealand, Dirk Bikkenbergs, Billabong, Hugo Boss, Burberry, Burton, Burton Paul Smith, C.P. Company, JC de Castelbajac, Calze Gallo, Carrera by Safilo, Roberto Cavalli, Champion, Chanel, Ciesse, Circa, Colmar, Columbia Sportswear Company, Comme des Garçons, Converse, D Squared, Dainese, DC Shoes, Diadora, Diesel, Dior, Dolce & Gabbana, Dunhill, DVS, Eastpak, Element, Ellesse, Ellesse Eley Kishimoto, Emerica, éS, Etnies, Everlast, Everlast Norma Kamali, Gianfranco Ferré, Fila, Fred Perry, Fred Perry Comme des Garçons, Freddy, Gucci, Harley-Davidson, Helly Hansen, Henry Lloyd, Hermès, Tommy Hilfiger, Hogan, Invicta, Jantzen, Juicy Couture, K-Swiss, K-Way, Norma Kamali, La Martina, Lacoste, Ralph Lauren, Le coq sportif, Le coq sportif Ice J Iceberg, Le coq sportif JC de Castelbajac, J. Lindeberg, Lonsdale, Lotto, Maison Martin Margiela, Mambo, Marithé & François Girbaud, Antonio Marras, Stella McCartney, Alexander McQueen, Missoni Sport, Issey Miyake, Mizuno, Moncler, Moncler Balenciaga, Moncler Junya Watanabe, Moon Boot, Munich X, Murphy&Nye, Napapijri, Nautica, New Balance, Nike, Nixon, Nodesign, North Sails, ONeill, Oakley, Pantofola doro, Parasuco Cult, Patagonia, Pirelli, Prada, Pringle of Scotland, Emilio Pucci, Puma, Puma Alexander McQueen, Puma Jil Sander, Puma Philip Starck, Puma Mihara Yasuhiro, Quiksilver, Reebok Paul Smith, Reebok, Rip Curl, Riva, Robe di Kappa, Rossignol, Rossignol Emilio Pucci, Sabelt, Salomon, Jil Sander, Santa Cruz, Sergio Tacchini Burro, Raf Simons, Paul Smith, Smith by Safilo, Spalding, Speedo, Speedo Rei Kawakubo, Speedo Rosa Chà, Stone Island, Superga, Sergio Tacchini, Tecnica, The North Face, Timberland, Tods, Umbro, Vans, Versace, Viktor & Rolf, Louis Vuitton, Vivienne Westwood, Bernard Willhelm, World Industries, Yohji Yamamoto, Yves Saint Laurent, Ermenegildo Zegna, Zero, ZooYork
ARTISTS: Vito Acconci, Rey Akdogan, Ulf Aminde, Carlos Amorales, Maria Antelman, Gustavo Artigas, Felipe Barbosa, Matthew Barney, Elisabetta Benassi, Paul Floyd Blake, Michael Blum, Andrea Bowers, Slater Bradley, Olaf Breuning, Roderick Buchanan, Mircea Cantor, Josef Dabernig, Stephen Dean, Sylvie Fleury, Kendell Geers, Fabrice Gygi, Julie Henry, Brian Jungen, Omer Ali Kazma, Jeff Koons, Annika Larsson, Sharon Lockhart, Eva e Franco Mattes (0100101110101101.org), Olaf Metzel, Tracey Moffatt, Gianni Motti, Bruce Nauman, Melik Ohanian, Gabriel Orozco, Cecilia Parsberg, Paul Pfeiffer, Shannon Plumb, Robin Rhode, Collier Schorr, Roman Signer, Florian Slotawa, Fiona Tan, Pascale Marthine Tayou, Grazia Toderi, Jaan Toomik, Patrick Tuttofuoco, Uri Tzaig, Mark Wallinger
THE CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS INCLUDE: Emanuela Audisio, Tommaso Bartalesi, Francesco Bonami, Paola Colaiacomo, Elda Danese, Maddalena De Bernardi, Peter De Potter, Valentina Durante, Raffaella Ferrero Camoletto, Maria Luisa Frisa, Alexandra Marshall, Alessandra Marchi, Matilda McQuaid, Toby Miller, Amanda Montanari, Elena Moretti, Stefano Pistolini, Maddalena Renzi, Olivier Saillard, Fabrizio Sarpi, Roberta Sassatelli, Horatio Silva, Nick Sullivan, Mauro Tinti, Stefano Tonchi, Alessandra Vaccari, Greg Williams
HUMAN GAME
WINNERS AND LOSERS
Stazione Leopolda, Florence
opening 21 June 2006
from 7.00 pm to 10.00 pm
22 June – 21 July 2006
CLOSED ON MONDAYS
22 June – 4 July 2006 11.00am/7.00pm
5 July – 8 July 2006 11.00am/10.00pm
8 July – 21 July 2006 11.00am/10.00pm
SPONSORED BY
CENTRO DI FIRENZE PER LA MODA ITALIANA and PITTI IMMAGINE
WITH A GRANT FROM THE
ENTE CASSA DI RISPARMIO DI FIRENZE
AND THE SPECIAL COOPERATION OF THE PROVINCE OF FLORENCE
MEDIA PARTNER
LA GAZZETTA DELLO SPORT
SPORT WEEK
Special thanks go to the Ministry for the Economic Development for its precious support.
info: Fondazione Pitti Discovery press office
Francesca Tacconi
tel. 39 055 3693251/211
tacconi@pittimmagine.com / discovery@pittimmagine.com