The Passion by Haitian-American artist Jean-Ulrick Désert was initially an interactive installation-sculpture photo performance for the Exhibition “Ein Spiel-viele Welten" (One Game-Many Worlds) during the World Soccer Cup championships held in Germany in 2006 and was created and presented in the museum lobby of the Stadtmuseum München (The Munich Historical Museum).
The artist focuses on football (soccer) fan-culture eccentricities, typified by extravagant fanaticism and the hooligan subculture and a critique against the growing corporate exploitation of this globally celebrated game of football (Soccer). A form of (corporate) Hooliganism exemplified by FIFA and other corporate partners. The project functions as an act of resistance against the presence of unbridled nationalism while re-inscribing the attributes of tribalism. Visitors to the museum and the general public are invited to participate and "perform" (for the camera) by choosing freely soccer-fan costume elements typically familiar from fan-culture . Mr. Desert’s reconstructions significantly avoids affiliations with specific soccer club franchises, nation or city teams or public, private or corporate sponsors. The archetypes of tribalism are all the more made visible in THE PASSION without the distractions of the signifying colors and logos used ubiquitously in sports today. The project's growing collection of digital photos in the museum lobby allowed the public to be part of a historic exhibition during the Soccer World Cup Championships.
This project were also presented at the Jack Shainman Gallery in The Color Line curated by artist and color-theorist Odili Donald Odita.
The Passion has also been presented at The Shelly and Donald Rubin Foundation's The 8th Floor Gallery in Between History and the Body curated by Artistic Director Sara Reisman. Between History and the Body features artists Elia Alba, Firelei Baez, Nick Cave, Jean-Ulrick Désert, Nicolás Dumit Estévez, Brendan Fernandes, Jeffrey Gibson, Shaun Leonardo, Ana Mendieta (†), Paul Anthony Smith, Chungpo Tsering and Saya Woolfalk.
