Animated Art, Sporting Aesthetics

Abstract

A cursory glance at much sporting journalism, and its consolidation in ghost-written sporting autobiography, often sees writers seeking to elevate the achievements of, among others, footballers, racing drivers, skaters and tennis players by classifying the best of their work as ‘art’, or more specifically within the realms of a rarefied aesthetic framework. David Winner, for example, in his collaboration with former Arsenal and Holland striker Dennis Bergkamp, draws upon the template of interviews conducted between Francois Truffaut and Alfred Hitchcock to inform his approach, noting that Bergkamp, like Hitchcock, is ‘a unique and influential genius in his chosen art form’, stressing that the book is about the footballer’s ‘technique and creative process’ (Bergkamp with Winner 2013:8). There is clearly no separation in Winner’s mind between Hitchcock’s status as a film-maker working in the arts and Bergkamp’s work as a footballer within the sporting arena.