Watching, 2002-2005
Through documenting various situations of absorbing a sporting event, the “Watching” project engaged a relationship between spectators and performers, between the audience and the event itself, irrespective of whether the game is seen live and in person or mediated through television images. The phenomenon of watching a sporting event was treated in the project as one of the key social models of identification, loyalty, enjoyment, confidence, and collective spirit. Sport is one of the most vital and widespread forms of the emanation of power and capital as well as one of the mainstays of media omnipresence and the notion of the society of the spectacle. “Watching” project was developed over the period of 4 years, between 2002-2005. During this time basketball audiences were photographed in a series of black and white photographs, in games ranging from local basketball events in Belgrade Serbia, to Sacramento Kings NBA audiences, and the games of the Olympic games in Athens, Greece, in 2004. Portraits of people watching in various circumstances served as a visual symbol of identity, patriotism, love for the game, utopian idea of sport, and spectacle. Art historian Vladimir Tupanjac contributed to the project with essays published in two catalogs, Watching 01 and Watching 02.
