Voetbal

Marijke van Warmerdam is known mainly for her short videos and 16mm films of ordinary, everyday subjects: a young girl doing a handstand against a wall, a man under the shower. Often the image is repeated in a loop and there is no narrative involved. The repeating movement lends a sense of timelessness. In Voetbal (Football), we can see a boy concentrating very hard, balancing a soccer ball on his head, for over nine minutes. The boy is in a schoolyard. Sounds can clearly be heard in the background: traffic, twittering birds, voices in the distance and finally, just before the boy lets the ball drop from his head, church bells start to ring. It is as though his achievement has been rewarded. The monitor and video player in this installation are placed on a wooden pallet, giving Voetbal a sculptural character, like many other works by Van Warmerdam.