Artist: Edmund Haakonson
Title: Slapshotolus; Ancient Greek Olympic Sculpture Meets Modern Canadian Sport Medium: bronze
Dimensions: 127 x 76 x 61cm.
Date: 2009
Artist Statement:
Slapshotolus is a personification of the philosophical ideal of living one’s life true and honest unto one’s self, with a noble character and pure spirit. Across the world this ideal is held up as something to aspire to, within the parameters of specific cultures of course. It is an expression of the idea of the honest knight acting with integrity for no purpose other than it is right and true and for no reward other than integrity. There is a suggestion of the under-dog, of an element of innocence. The sculpture is a visual 
symbol of purity of spirit, of living life unshielded, un-armored. It is a symbolic expression of the conceptual ideal that one who lives a noble life does not require protection, does not need to cover because there is nothing to hide, no ulterior motives, nothing to be ashamed of.
The inspiration for the sculpture is a strong belief that the wisdom of our ancestors, even long distant and cross cultural ancestors, is relevant to a twenty-first century audience. In this work I am examining the lessons, messages and wisdom of our ancestors and ancient cultures and giving that wisdom a contemporary face. The sculpture also expresses an acknowledgment that wisdom is not a static thing, it must be allowed to evolve and grow. Democracy to an ancient Greek (more accurately Athenian) meant something very different than what it means to us today, for example. The sculpture expresses the fact that one cannot take a piece of the past and plunk it wholesale into the modern world, or freeze any part of a culture so that it is unchanged forever. In attempting to do so the thing one is trying to preserve becomes a parody of itself and the original wisdom risks being lost. What it means to be a person true unto one’s self has changed through the millennia, the larger concept however, has been with us since the beginning of time.
In ancient Greece sacred games were held in various locations in honour of specific gods. The Isthmian Games for Poseidon, the Delphic Games for Apollo, Heraea Games for women in the name of Hera and the most famous; Olympic Games for Zeus. All were to honour the gods and were important religious events centered around athletic competition. The Olympia Games were considered so important that a Sacred Peace was declared across the ancient Greek world for as long as three months surrounding the period of competition. Wars between city states were suspended, legal disputes and the use of the death penalty were forbidden. Competitors had to swear an oath before the altar of the god, Zeus knew if any had an impure heart.
A victory in an event was not a personal victory for the individual athlete, it was considered a victory for the whole of a competitor’s home city-state (not a lot has changed on that score). A victory symbolized divine favour from the gods for the city-state. To acknowledge the favour and as an act of thanks giving the city-state would sometimes have a work of art created and dedicated to the temple of the god in whose name the games were held. These sculptures would represent the athletes who achieved a victory but were not portraits of the individuals. The sculptures were executed in the formalized and stylized body type used by the Greeks that expressed a belief in the ideal. The individual was not as important as the expression of the larger concept.
Competition
was in the nude, in part, because to the ancient Greeks a well proportioned human body signified a closeness to the gods. Physical beauty was an indication of, or could attract, divine favour. In artwork, physical beauty was used as a visual symbol to express the abstract concepts of noble philosophical ideals. Nude = naked truth, if you will.
Slapshotolus is a connecting of the ancient sacred games and the modern Winter Games. I have taken the Classical Greek image that is an expression of the ideal and given it a twenty-first century make over, a modern face. In the process of creating this work I have done away with the ancient stylization and made the body first person specific to reflect the reality of the contemporary belief structure surrounding the importance placed on individual achievement. I chose hockey because it is the quintessential winter sport, in Canada at least.
In the sculpture there is also an honouring of the Canadian sense of humour as expressed in popular television shows like This Hour Has Twenty Two Minutes, Royal Canadian Air Farce and Rent a Goalie. The image of ancient nude sculpture makes perfect sense to us, the image of a hockey player makes perfect sense, the hybrid of the two has a decidedly amusing result. There is something of the absurd in a hockey player wearing only skates, gloves and helmet, especially for anyone who has actually played hockey. I do not however, find any conflict in the absolutely serious and the humourous co-existing in a single work, I would suggest that it accurately reflects the true reality of human experience.
Employing a reworking of ancient Greek imagery Slapshotolus is a visual expression of the spirit of the Olympic Creed which reads:
"The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well."