Work Relation 2014 - A film by Marina Abramović, in collaboration with adidas

Adidas teams with performance art icon Marina Abramović for a collaborative film project celebrating the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ in Brazil.

Adidas presents its collaboration with performance artist Marina Abramović, unveiling an original, short video celebrating the brand's partnership and support of the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ in Brazil. The three-minute film captures the first ever re-staging of Abramović's iconic 1970s performance "Work Relation"—which focuses on commitment, teamwork and the strength found in togetherness—reimagined through the lens of the 2014 FIFA World Cup™. This marks adidas and Abramović's first project together and demonstrates the many parallels that exist between the artist's piece and the play of any team sport.

First performed in 1978 by Abramović and her partner at the time Ulay, the original "Work Relation" was a groundbreaking form of performance art unveiled at the Theatre ann Rijn in Arnhem, The Netherlands. The original piece--seen reenacted in this film for the first time since 1979—consisted of three sequences, each presenting a unique model for transporting stones from one end of a room to another. Using only buckets and human labor, the three models compare and contrast systems of cooperation and efficiency, with the participants' bodies serving as the medium.

The 2014 execution of Abramović's "Work Relation" revisits these same themes of the original, while also paying tribute to adidas' partnership with the 2014 FIFA World Cup. In the reenacted piece, eleven performers from varying walks of life reference the total members of a soccer/football team. Together, the performers harness the fundamental principles of the sports world - teamwork, discipline and perseverance --to once again transport stones from one side of the room to the other.

The resulting performance conjures the ethos of adidas and the spirit of collaboration inherent to a global competition like the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ in Brazil.

Based on the original "Work Relation" by Marina Abramović and Ulay, 1978

Creative Director: Marco Brambilla
Director: Dustin Lynn
Director of Photography: John Schmidt
Editor: Akiko Iwakawa
Audio Mix: Elizabeth McClanahan
Music: Dustin Lynn

Location: Pioneer Works, Brooklyn, New York

Produced by Subject

In association with the Marina Abramović Institute + Adidas

Performers:
Giuliano Argenziano
Victoria Velasco
Billy Zhao
Paula Garcia
Allison Brainard
Thomas Kelly
Hugo Huerta
Serge Le Borgne
Noah Blumenson-Coook
Rebecca Davis
Maria Herranz