Hommage To Balotelli's Missed Trick

2013 - Sculpture (Sculpture)

Burak Delier

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Burak Delier’s sculpture Homage to Balotelli’s Missed Trick is a symbol of resistance to the demand for success and performance. The sculpture represents Italian soccer player Mario Balotelli, who intentionally missed an opportunity to score during a 2011 game between LA Galaxy and Manchester City. The miniature Balotelli stands on his left foot, raising his right foot to kick the ball. As the viewer approaches the piece, Balotelli begins to spin and the noise of a cheering crowd plays from speakers. The noise turns to audible confusion and then booing, tracking the moments during when Balotelli suddenly turned kicked the ball in the opposite direction of the goal. Because this gesture can be seen as one of the most forbidden behaviors in contemporary society—wasting an opportunity—Delier’s homage to the gesture can be seen as an opposition to the social pressure to achieve conventional forms of success.

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Political Turkish artist Burak Delier works in a variety of media. He explores links between capitalism and art, freedom and unpredictability, seriousness and humor, employing the aesthetic strategies of the neo-liberal media that he opposes as a means of political and artistic resistance.

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Colors:

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• wit.n.01
• failure.n.01
• operation.n.08
• success.n.01
• society.n.01
• pressure.n.06
• collective history
• contemporary turkish art
• photography
• turkey
• turkish