Artistic Formalism in Relation to Sport

Abstract

I argue that sport can be considered aesthetic and thus converge with a certain view of art. We can enjoy abundance and proliferation as well as negation and austerity in nature, art and sport. The aesthetics of abundance and negation are “intertwined” in sport as art-like. Sport is well positioned to perform art’s cultural task better than traditional forms of art. Art and sport are intertwined in the sense that sport as an aesthetic, cultural phenomenon may continue the work of art. By aesthetics, the author focuses on notions of formalism in sport. This “will to form” is predicated on the need humans have for order, pattern and harmony. In that sense, art and sport might offer us a vision of clarity and precision. A theory of formalism applies equally to art and sport.