Ten Thousand Games
| mixed
media assemblage | 20"
x 22" |
Daniel Wend
This
mixed media artwork is the grown-up equivalent of bronzed baby shoes.
It commemorates and
celebrates an era, a lifestyle, and a piece of clothing that may
or may not have brought me special
powers on the basketball court. I've played the game most of my
life, and when factoring how many
years I wore these shorts, and how many games I played over that
era, it added up to at least 10,000
games. These shorts tell a story. The time in which I wore them
spanned numerous years, different
basketball groups, a variety of school and community center gyms,
different cities, parking lots,
basketball courts in parks, tournaments, friendships and associations
with a range of people from a
wide spectrum of backgrounds, careers, ethnicities, ages, religions,
political viewpoints, and a wide
array of attitudes and demeanors.
I consider
playing basketball part of my creative expression - the spontaneous
choreography, the
action-reaction and motion, are a perfect blend of athletics and
the art of movement. Winning is
good, too. Though I have suffered for this type of "performance
art." While wearing these shorts, I
also experienced the physical suffering from sprains, contusions,
fractured ribs, cuts with stitches,
and hard impacts to my head and body. I've also endured the mental
agitation from all manner of
insults, threats, ribbing, and bluster, all while making life-long
friends playing the game.
As an original artwork, this goes a step beyond sharing a personal
expression, or impression with
the viewer who may admire the brush strokes of a master artist.
This art incorporates my personal
artistic touch, and something much more personal than a brush stroke.
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