Are you looking forward to this Sunday’s Germany-Argentina World Cup showdown at the Estádio Maracanã? So is Marina Abramović, also known as the godmother of performance art! Sports label adidas is collaborating with her to unveil an original, short video celebrating the brand’s partnership and support of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. The three-minute film captures the first ever re-staging of Abramović’s iconic 1970s performance Work Relation – which focuses on commitment, teamwork and the strength found in togetherness – reimagined through the lens of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. This marks adidas and Abramović’s first project together and demonstrates the many parallels that exist between the artist’s piece and the play of any team sport.  

“Working as a team maximizes commitment, dedication, and ultimately, performance. Collective energy is a source of great strength," offers Abramović. "This is what I came to find through the trials performed in Work Relation (1978, with Ulay). These same qualities are necessary to the foundation of my institute, MAI, and to any unit. I find the commonalities between performance and sport very intriguing and was excited to highlight them in this project." 

In the reenacted piece, which was shot on location in Brooklyn, eleven performers from varying walks of life reference the total members of a football team. Together, the performers harness the fundamental principles of the sports world - teamwork, discipline and perseverance – to transport stones from one side of the room to the other. Abramović acts as a referee figure, a conductor laying out the rules of the game while the team utilises three different approaches to carry out the same task. Each of the performers is dressed in items from his/her personal wardrobe, along with a uniform of white lab coats from the Marina Abramović Institute and adidas’ celebrated Samba sneakers, a style first introduced in 1950 as a soccer/football-training shoe. 

Abramović’s 512 Hours is also currently on at the Serpentine Gallery in London.

Courtesy of the artists, the Marina Abramović Institute and adidas.