World Cup '74 Portrait #175 (Ramon Heredia: Argentina)

graphite & putty eraser, with watercolour pencil/30x21cm

Today’s subject is an image of Ramon Heredia, ‘re-mediated’ from the original source sticker as featured in the FKS ‘Wonderful World of Soccer Stars World Cup 1974’ album, & who was selected as a member of the official Argentina squad for the Finals, where he played in each of his country’s six matches, scoring a goal in the first, a 2 – 3 defeat to Poland.

By another of those curious, random coincidences, shortly prior to the World Cup, Heredia had played in the European Cup Final of 1974, & its unique replay, for his club, Atlético Madrid, as had our immediately previous subject, Conny Torstensson, for their opponents.

A drawing processed from the same source image-object featured in an earlier incarnation of the 1974 World Cup project, here.

World Cup '74 #9 (Ramon Heredia)

graphite & putty eraser/30x20cm

Sometimes a drawing as it appears, in itself &, as here, on screen, simply can’t even begin to hint at what’s been going on behind (the scenes), the circumstances that have played out during the course of its processing. And, rather than signifying a failure to communicate, to express, sometimes that’s not necessarily a bad thing, that art can serve as the anchor in a veritable sea of changeable events, as is & has been the case in this particular instance.

Whatever, & being the latest in the ongoing World Cup ’74 series, the grid structure of graphite-toned squares that this drawing presents, in the now-familiar manner as that has developed, manages, as otherwise blank façade, to conceal not least the physical relocation (eventually) of the operations of both TOoT & Faire-la-Bise, to a place where rather attractive studio space & light is available. This being the case, the drawing was actually processed in no fewer than three separate locations, also including a session at the site of TOoT’s original physical base in addition to the new & previous ones (where it began life).

What the drawing represents, re-mediated & de-photographized via the drawing process, is an A4 monochrome print of a scanned & digitally manipulated image of an original sticker from the FKS collectors’ album ‘Wonderful World of Soccer Stars World Cup 1974’, featuring, as its particular subject, Ramon Heredia of the Argentina squad as proposed by that publication &, it transpired, as actually selected for the tournament, during which he played in all six of his country’s matches & scored the first of their goals, in the 2 – 3 defeat to Poland. Prior to the World Cup, Heredia had very recently featured for his Spanish club, Atletico Madrid, in both of their matches against Bayern Munich in the European Cup Final & its replay which, alas, resulted in a 0 – 4 defeat.

Soundtrack:

The Triffids ‘In the Pines’
Broadcast ‘Haha Sound’
Vic Godard & Subway Sect 'We Come As Aliens'
Moon Wiring Club ‘Today Bread, Tomorrow Secrets’ (CD)