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?
