Olympic and military training come together in art installation

Artist John Gerrard was last year awarded the Legacy Fellowship, the first academic post meaningfully to combine art and sport, by the Ruskin School of Drawing & Fine Art, Oxford University Sport and Modern Art Oxford.

Since then Mr Gerrard has worked with Olympic hopefuls in and out of Oxford to produce Exercise (Djibouti) 2012.

The piece originates in found documentary images of US military exercises in Djibouti and is informed by the artist’s research into athletic achievement.

Paul Bonaventura of the Ruskin School of Drawing & Fine Art explained: 'Exercise (Djibouti) 2012 features teams of virtual figures performing a series of precise, repetitive routines on a virtual featureless plain.

'The figures derive from a group of elite athletes who were engaged for the project while they were preparing for the London 2012 Games and whose actual movements were captured using sophisticated motion capture and 3D modelling technologies.'

He added: 'The work reflects on the potent links between competitive sport, military training, theatrical performance and dance.'

The installation will be open to the public daily from 7 - 29 July 2012 (Monday to Saturday 12pm - 8pm / Sunday 12pm - 6pm). The Old Power Station is on Arthur Street in Oxford.

Exercise (Djibouti) 2012 is commissioned by the Ruskin School of Drawing & Fine Art, Oxford University Sport and Modern Art Oxford and forms part of the London 2012 Festival.

Supported by Audiomotion, ArtAV, National Lottery through Arts Council England, Culture Ireland, John Fell OUP Fund, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Podium and Magdalen College, Oxford, the project also forms part of RELAY, a region-wide programme of new visual arts commissions and live events across the South East to mark the Olympic year.