Written by Marilena Aligizaki

Marilena Aligizaki’s artistic practice is concerned with the relationship between sports and socio-economic realities, and in her recent research, she focuses on political aspects of the football phenomenon. The project includes public action and video documentation of a particular football match that was in fact a participatory event organized by the artist. Participants of OFFENCE vs DEFENCE are players of the self-managed Diogenis of Olympic Village football team and Adespotos Athens football team. Together with the artist, the team established rules for a different kind of football game, which features new relations between the players, rejecting the traditional binary of the game. The ultimate purpose of this game is no longer simply to win but to play, creating a collaborative experience that becomes an act of freedom.