New Art Commission by Mark Wallinger to Mark First World War Centenary through Football
Photo: John Nguyen
Internationally acclaimed artist Mark Wallinger has launched One World, a new work commissioned by Liverpool Biennial and 14-18 NOW, the UK’s arts programme for the First World War centenary.
Inspired by the famous Christmas truce of 1914, when soldiers from both sides emerged from the trenches and met in No Man’s Land to exchange gifts and play football, Wallinger has taken the football itself as his canvas. He has transformed the football into a globe of the world, taking his inspiration from the celebrated image of the Earth taken during the Apollo 8 lunar orbit on 24 December 1968. Captured at the moment of earthrise, it is an image of enduring beauty, depicting a peaceful planet floating in the vastness of space.
In partnership with organisations including the EFL Trust, Sport England, the Football Foundation, Sport Northern Ireland and sportscotland, a limited edition of the One World football will be released in November 2018 to community projects across the UK, with the simple request to each person to upload their own #OneWorld video in response to Wallinger’s call for action.
Mark Wallinger said: “It is 100 years since the Armistice was agreed in 1918, and 50 years since the Earthrise photograph was taken on Christmas Eve 1968. One World is my contribution to the legacy of those precious moments – spreading a message of peace for the world. Time to stop fighting and start playing. Playing the beautiful game. Let’s take that image of a precious and fragile world into the future and celebrate the joy of playing together.”
Mark Wallinger is one of the UK’s leading contemporary artists. Having previously been nominated for the Turner Prize in 1995, he won in 2007 for his installation State Britain. His work Ecce Homo (1999–2000) was the first piece to occupy the empty plinth in Trafalgar Square. He represented Britain at the Venice Biennale in 2001. Labyrinth (2013), a major and permanent commission for Art on the Underground, was created to celebrate 150 years of the London Underground. In 2018, the permanent work Writ in Water was realised for the National Trust to celebrate the Magna Carta at Runnymede, and The World Turned Upside Down will be unveiled in 2019 for the London School of Economics.
One World is commissioned by Liverpool Biennial and 14-18 NOW: WW1 Centenary Art Commissions, with support from the National Lottery through Arts Council England and the Heritage Lottery Fund, and from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
Find out more and follow the journey with #OneWorld.
