Artists Archive Dispatch Exhibition

Zachary D. Milder

I design and implement sport as a way to investigate how relationships affect our behavior, identity, and understanding of the world. By utilizing the language and aesthetic of sport in a fine art context, I am able to set the conversation in an alternate reality in which our perceptions of art and sport are not distinct from one another.  The concepts of teams, boundaries, rules and referees all work towards centering the conversation around the power struggle within a polarized social landscape and the effects of authoritarian systems therein. 

While sport was once a stand-in for war and political squabble, it has since been reduced to little more than regional entertainment, and yet continues to have broader geopolitical implications and provide cultural therapy.   Despite the clear sociological impact, the fine arts tend to avoid sport. Music, film, dance and many other forms of entertainment have all been embraced by artists as vehicles for their ideas and expressions, but sport remains an outsider, a rival.  

My intent is to erode the boundaries we have built and connect perceived opponents through physical action and artistic experience.


Laguna Beach, California

1987