Upstate New York Olympics
The Upstate New York Olympics is a series of sports I invented and “played” in the landscape where I live.
On some level, the project was an attempt to play sports and make art at the same time. The videos were also a way to see the world as an arena for interaction, rather than just as a set of images to capture. They have shown all over the world, often with accompanying trophies and souvenirs. The character playing these sports doesn’t seem to notice that he has no competition, and is, like the Japanese soldiers who fought on in island jungles long after World War II ended, passionately devoted to his cause, and perhaps delusional.
Compilation Reel
Abandoned Building Bowling
Apple Spit
Being an Obstacle
Bouncy Castle Sampson
Brush Fire Dozens
Cheerleaders
Compost Pile Freestyle
Double Barn Ball
Drop Box Balance Beam
Election Day Croquet
Fencing
Giant Slalom
Gravestone Hurdle
Headstone Exercises
Hot Potato
Jalopy Roll
Mailbox Balance
Monitor Squat Thrust
National Geographic Gymnastics
Not My Balls
Port a Potty Triple Jump
Rusty Pipe Drag
Snowman Jiu Jitsu
That's Salada Tea
Trash Day Knife Toss
Vanity Licence Plate Lick
Yard Sign Steamroller
Acorn Supermax
Architectural Detail Dangle
Berry Blow
Broken Glass Jumping Jacks
Carrying a Log Across a Log
Church Sign Balance Beam
Cross-Country Basketball
Divine Vine Climb
Drive-In Movie Tennis
Dumpster Dive
Farm Dog Easy Listening Album Fetch
Flag Pole Grapple
Goldenrod Windmill
Hay Bale Sisyphus
Hill of Municipal Sand
In the Forsythia
Long Distance Skip
Mattress Spring Trampoline
Mound Moguls
No Trespassing Parallel Bars
Pond Scum Stone Skip
Real Estate Steeplechase
Shotgun Shell Biathlon
Stream Luge
The Blue Wall of Kadima
Upstate TV Gymkhana
Very Long Lutz
This exhibition catalog documents the series of video and installation works by Tim Davis entitled The Upstate New York Olympics. Combining the artist's ongoing interests in performance, photography, sculpture, and poetry, and by turns uncanny, bold, ridiculous, illegal, and downright dangerous, Davis's "events" (including "Flag Pole Grapple," "Lawn Jockey Leapfrog," and "Stream Luge") both document and at the same time powerfully comment on the artist's concerns with the fundamentals of performance art, personal expression, regionalism, and the risks and rewards of the creative life.