Messi scored in the Champions League final against Man Utd. |
Among the hundreds of brilliant moments of Lionel Messi, the free kick against Liverpool, the solo dribble through the white shirts of Real Madrid, or the volley against Brazil in 2021, every fan has their own "goal of a lifetime". But for Messi himself, the most memorable goal did not come from that magical left foot, but from... a header.
And that goal – against Manchester United in the 2009 Champions League final – has now been reborn in an unprecedented way: as a vibrant, abstract and emotional work of contemporary digital art, called Living Memory Messi - A Goal in Life.
When memories are reconstructed with science and emotion
The work is being exhibited at the prestigious Christie's auction house in New York, which has housed cultural icons such as Warhol and Basquiat. But this time, it is not a spontaneous portrait or an abstract painting, but... a football memory, recreated as a living data universe - where Messi becomes the artistic material, and the pitch becomes the canvas.
When a non-football fan creates a work honoring Messi
Refik Anadol, a globally renowned media personality, never cared much for football. He grew up in Istanbul, watched a few derbies with his Beşiktaş-loving uncle, but the pitch never touched his heart. Until Messi came along – not as a player, but as a cultural phenomenon.
For Anadol, Messi is a “conductor of movement.” A man who orchestrates space and time by instinct. When the Inter Miami Foundation and Christie’s invited him to create a piece inspired by Messi’s favorite goal—a rare header from 2009—Anadol didn’t want to simply “recreate” the game. He wanted to turn it into a living memory, a space that could be entered, touched, and felt with all the senses.
“This is not a replay ,” Anadol said. “It is a memory recreated with data, emotions and light. I did not paint Messi. I became Messi in that moment.”
Messi's goal is now redesigned. |
Using hundreds of hours of footage provided by UEFA, Anadol’s team of engineers and artists recreated the goal using AI and machine learning: the trajectory of the ball, the positions of the players, their movements, their speeds, their heartbeats, even the sounds of the stadium. Every movement was mathematically recalculated, creating a 3D map with absolute precision.
But it’s not just the data that makes this work stand out. Underpinning the work is an exclusive interview with Messi—never before published—in which he recalls the goal with his eyes, his voice, and subtle expressions.
“That header wasn’t the most difficult goal,” Messi said softly. “But it was the most memorable, because it was so unlike me. I jumped very high, which is rare. And I scored. Without thinking, just instinct.”
Standing at 1.70 metres tall, Messi headed between two tall defenders of MU, in a final, to bring the third Champions League title to Barcelona and complete the great treble. It was not just a goal, but the moment Messi stepped out of the shadow of the "prodigy" to become an icon.
When the viewer becomes part of the memory
The work is set in a closed mirror room - where light, images, sounds and data mix. The audience enters and is absorbed in a stream of vivid memories: the sound of the stands, the voice of the commentator, Messi's heartbeat, the light of that moment - all form a living picture, where there is no longer a boundary between art and sport , between the viewer and the viewed.
“This is the art of telling stories through memory,” Anadol said. “Not with paint or a stopwatch, but with data and emotion.”
Messi is the immortal symbol of world football. |
The Living Memory Messi piece will be auctioned until July 22, with all proceeds going to the Inter Miami Charitable Foundation, which supports education in Latin American countries such as Argentina, Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras and Haiti. The starting bid is $1.5 million.
With Anadol, he hopes that the work will not remain in a private collection, but can be displayed publicly, as a way to bring that memory to as many people as possible.
“It’s not just art meets sport,” he said. “It’s two seemingly unrelated worlds—fine art and football—telling the same story.”
A headshot. A moment of instinct and precision. And now - a memory immortalized in light, data, and space.
Messi is not just a legend. He is the artistic material of the 21st century.
Source: https://znews.vn/cu-danh-dau-lam-rung-chuyen-ca-the-gioi-nghe-thuat-cua-messi-post1568282.html
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