Tag Archives: sports

Competitive Swinging is an installation/event by artist Paolo Salvagione at the Headlands Center for the Arts in Sausalito, CA. The enormous rope swings are installed 5-on-5 in an old gymnasium and the only true goal seems to be who can have the most fun, a competition I think many people in this world often forget to engage in. From the artists comments via Laughing Squid:

The piece reveled itself slowly. All the ingredients were there in my mind, dreams, childhood playground memories, pendulums. The challenge of a space that big is how to activate it, it was built in 1907. I spent the evening there with bottle of wine and watched the space as the sun set. I noticed period hardware on the ceiling that once held climbing ropes, a common military exercise. From that observation the piece came together. The old basketball court ask for 5 people a side and the building has 5 window on each side. The nature of athletics asked for competition, my sense of humor loved the idea of competitive swinging. [...] There were a few moments where I thought my efforts to get to this swing-of-the-past seemed absurd but when the installation was complete I knew I had made the right decisions. An installation like this only comes to life when populated, with people, with smiles.

If you want to get in on the swinging action, the event is only up through the end of this weekend, the closing reception is May 8th. More great photos of the event captured by Andria Lo can be found here.