Zidane Headbutt Statue is Strangely Unique: Fan's Take

Posted Saturday, September 29, 2012 by YAHOO Sport

Art is in the eye of the beholder. Never has that been more true with the 16.4 ft high, bronze statue of Zinedine Zidane headbutting Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup final that has been erected outside Paris' Centre Pompidou, one of the finest modern art museums in the world. The violent play six years ago must have left an impression on the Algerian artist Adel Abdessemed.

A smaller version of the statue had previously been on exhibition at New York's David Zwirner Gallery as part of an exhibition called "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" On a much larger scale in Paris, the statue, which looks like the two athletes were captured frozen in carbonite, is turning many more heads and is garnering a lot more publicity.

As strange as the statue is, I think it's wonderful. It's unique because it immortalizes in bronze a violent act during a sporting event, not a moment of greatness, like a batter hitting a home run or a basketball player going up for a slam dunk.

There are some great examples of statues that capture great sports moments across America, like the statue of Doug Flutie outside the Boston College football stadium where it immortalizes his last second Hail Mary against the University of Miami in 1984.
The statue, his most famous play of his career, professionally or in college, is of him winding up hurling the most infamous Hail Mary pass in the history of college football. It encapsulates the thrilling moment and makes you want to see it again.

Abdessemed's statue is the equivalent of an American artist erecting a bronze statue of the moment boxer Mike Tyson bit off a part of Evander Holyfield's right ear in June 1997.

Commemorating in bronze an awful moment in sports takes more imagination than commemorating one that was great. Does it make those who see it shack their heads in disbelief? Sure, but is it not arts constant goal to provoke some sort of emotion - positive or negative.

The Zidane headbutt, when it happened, the highlight of it was run on every major news outlet in the world. I believe ESPN ran it on a constant loop for days. Abdessemed knew he was creating something that would reap lots of attention if finished. Well, he was successful.

Will Adel Abdessemed get the ultimate compliment for an artist, copy cat works of other ugly sports moments? Perhaps a bronze statue of Detroit Lion's Ndamukong Suh stomping on Evan Dietrich-Smith.