Football as art: Messi picks favourite goal for unique digital work
If your ask a footballer to pick their favourite goal you're quite likely to be told it's like choosing one child over another. Each one is special.
Fortunately, Lionel Messi has made his career from making the right choices on and off the pitch and now the legendary World Cup winning Argentine is hoping to emulate that success in the art world.
He's teamed up with renowned Turkish-American digital artist Refik Anadol to immortalise a goal and give viewers a unique experience shaped by Messi's physical and emotional state.
The strike in question is his unforgettable headed goal in Barcelona's 2-0 victory over Manchester United in the 2009 Champions League final in Rome.
Considering the global football icon has found the back of the net more than 860 times in his lengthy career playing for Argentina, Barcelona, Paris St Germain and now Inter Miami, its significance can't be underestimated among a myriad of magical moments.
Jumping for joy in ultra-high definition
As well as being a cherished collector's item, Messi's choice will no doubt end also up being a popular pub quiz question.
The artwork titled Goal for Life is described by its curators as a "one-of-a-kind masterpiece (that) pushes the boundaries of what art can be – not just a representation of the past, but an emotional, multisensory transmission of it."
At the heart of the work is what Anadol calls the 'architecture of action.' Using an open-source motion-tracking framework, he mapped 17 points of Messi's body to reconstruct his physical form and kinetic expression.
This was layered with biometric voice data, breathing rhythms, heartbeat patterns, and emotional nuances derived from interviews – culminating in a powerful soundscape shaped by Messi's physical and emotional state in that exact moment, setting the emotional tempo of the piece.
The result is a dynamic, eight-minute 'memory temple,' as Anadol describes it – rendered in 16K resolution and presented as a fully immersive experience. Viewers are invited to surrender to the work, forging a visceral connection with Messi and revisiting their own memory of the goal.
'For me, this work is about transforming the data from Messi's favorite goal into living memory – something that we have never done before,' said Anadol. 'We've taken millions of data points – visuals, sounds, physiological signals – from one of football's most iconic moments and turned them into a pioneering art experience. This isn't about nostalgia. It's about reliving the depth of that split second: what Messi felt, what the crowd felt, and what it meant to the world. This AI Data Sculpture work redefines how we experience memory through art.'
'It's an honor to join forces with the Inter Miami Foundation for a good cause – I feel privileged to be able to do so,' said Messi. 'This project means a lot to me, not only because it recalls a special moment in my career, but also because, thanks to such a unique artist like Refik, it can help improve the lives of others who truly need it.'
'This unique artwork explores the intersection of sport, artificial intelligence, and collective memory – turning data into feeling and memory into architecture,' said Ximena Caminos, curator of the project. 'Anadol transforms Messi's iconic goal into a true time capsule – amplifying a historic moment in football and inviting viewers to not only witness memory, but to step inside it. For nearly a decade, he has been on the forefront of creating a new artistic language where memory becomes material, empathy becomes spatial, and art becomes a portal into shared consciousness. It is exciting to witness the expansion of this language into the world of sports.'
The highest bidder will receive the work in its digital form along with a certificate of authenticity co-signed by Messi and Anadol.
Proceeds from the sale will benefit multiple nonprofits, including Inter Miami CF Foundation's global partnership with UNICEF, which supports access to quality education programs in five countries across Latin America and the Caribbean.
Living Memory: Messi - A Goal in Life can now be experienced digitally on the Christie's website and will be physically unveiled at Christie's New York from July 12 through July 22, coinciding with the online auction.
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