“So much of Sebastian Coe’s and indeed many other celebrated middle-distance athlete’s progress was fuelled by rivalry and a sense of competition. Perhaps it is innate, intrinsic to our genetic code, that competition motivates us to reach new heights. Central to this is the instinct for survival, to work and struggle within the group but to strategically separate oneself from the pack and push forward at the critical moment. Sebastian Coe was known to have impressive running form, and he structured his movements decisively, allowing him to surge ahead of the pack in the last moments of the race.
Mapping the movement and form of the runner reveals interesting topographies of motion that speak of dynamism, strategy, time and distance. These figures represent the competitive dynamic of the middle distance running group, moreover, they are also a representation of the race itself, as a continuous narrative, depicting the shifting tempo of start, middle and end. Flowing, subtly fluctuating angles of the tubes echo the rhythm and tempo of the mapped strides. The sway of each torso made manifest in these shifting elements, lends dynamism to the compression and expansion of the narrative arrangement- one gets a sense of the bolting start, the jostling competition and finally the break away.”
Completed: 2017
Location: Nike World Headquarters, Beaverton, Oregon, USA
