VISION analysis originally published on April 21, 2019.
Jason Van Bruggen has an extraordinary talent. He turns everything he sees into ‘scenes,’ moments from which dreams are made. This time, he’s working for Gymnastics Canada, and this leads us to some reflections that are purely our own. Let’s agree this time on the following exercise, which is more about reflection than analysis.
The roots of gymnastics are very ancient, and the values it carries align perfectly with the Olympic Games and a certain idea of sport. The one where the top of the pyramid justifies the rest. Among these cardinal values are effort, work, and excellence. The necessity of providing the first two leading (eventually) to the third. We highly recommend the two books that Isabelle Queval has dedicated to the subject, especially ‘The Philosophy of Effort,’ which is by no means a critical book but a enlightening read.
Let’s return to the images, through Van Bruggen’s lens:
The proposition seems irresistible. Gymnastics is an art. Each shot is an invitation, a bubble encapsulated in a flow that sweeps away. There’s the movement, of course, the journey, the shadow, and the light.
There’s also the result, the medals, but as often with Van Bruggen, the strength of the argument lies elsewhere. This is precisely the angle we like, especially at a time when in France, nothing seems to exist for the sports microcosm other than the horizon of 2024 and precisely those medals.
Gymnastics is one of the most elitist disciplines and symbolizes, in our view, the somewhat Faustian deal proposed by high-level sports, not to mention Olympism. Those who organize the Olympics know very well that there are only three places on the podium, two of which will soon be forgotten, but the obligation to find the rare pearl forces them to sift through all the societies of all countries, even appealing to the destiny of nations. This is the very spring of global competition, you might object, it’s the engine of soft power whose expectations are darker. The organizers of the Olympic Games are well aware that there are only three places on the podium, two of which will be quickly forgotten, but the need to find the rare pearl means that they have to sift through every company in every country, even if it means appealing to the destiny of nations. It’s the very mainspring of global competition, you may object, and the driving force behind soft power, which has a darker side.
Since the 60s/70s in the West, and for much longer elsewhere, where certain philosophies still prevailed over pragmatism, sport is no longer solely represented by traditional ‘disciplines.’ There are ‘free’ sports, and everyone can thus choose their sporting destiny. We can still dream that the next stage might be the evolution of the narrative that underlies practices like gymnastics, since that’s what we started with Van Bruggen’s film. The right question would be, how to make people dream with gymnastics, a fabulous practice, by making it exist in a slightly different way, by making it exist outside the global spectacle that stirs the elites during the five years preceding the Olympiad, but whose reality lasts only a month. How to make gymnastics and other sports exist without the tyranny of the podium. Towards more bodily expression and humanity. Isn’t that ultimately what the girls from UCLA did at the beginning of this year, setting social networks ablaze?
Many want to use sport to create a more beautiful French society. Let’s not wait until 2024 and not limit ourselves to imagining the future of sport only in this perspective. The same argument would not pass in society, we have put forward this idea, it was an analysis and it can be read here: ‘When sport and society contradict each other.'”
