The Sporting League – a footballer’s dream
Nearly 10 years ago Ropewalk studio artist Marc Renshaw began his own fictional football super league and since then the project, The Sporting League, has become a way of life for Keelby based Marc.
Since 2002 he began to faithfully documented results and statistics in a fictional super league – a conceptual football world that Marc claims has existed since 1985.
Since then Marc has faithfully recorded every kick, foul, goal and red and yellow card which now can be seen in all its detail at an exhibition of the same name which opens at The Ropewalk on Saturday, October 29.
“Since I began The Sporting League results and league tables have been faithfully recorded,” explained Marc.
“Bayerns, Tranquilayers, Delta and Olby may sound like international football teams but in fact belong to my fictional super league,” he went on.
“Match results and league tables from 10 seasons have been faithfully recorded with the dryness of a serious statistical archive, yet rendered with an obsessive and imperfect drive that appears self-indulgent.”
A whole wall of the Artspace Gallery at The Ropewalk will be lined with intricate text panels, produced in biro, on large sheets of off-white paper.
“Although the project may have an appearance of obsession, it retains sophistication and an understanding of itself within a wider art historical context,” Marc believes.
And visitors to the exhibition in can do far more than just take in the intricate detail of the exhibition – they can also participate in score prediction and compete at table soccer.
And to bring some immediacy to the exhibition, Marc will be relaying The Sporting League fixtures live in the gallery space each Saturday for the duration of the show.
The launch of Marc’s exhibition coincides with Football Frenzy at Barton’s Library on October 29 from 1am to 4pm when there will be a wide range of football games to enjoy at the first football gaming event held at North Lincolnshire’s libraries.
The exhibition, which is funded by Arts Council England, continues until Sunday, November 27. The exhibition is open from Monday to Saturday between 10am and 5pm and on Sundays between 10am and 4pm.