The Art of the Punt

Jaime Lowe

August 08, 2005

At the Socrates Sculpture Park in Long Island City, N.Y., there's a 1,500-square-foot patch of sod lined like a section of a football field and so green that it seems to glow. Stand on that patch on any weekend afternoon until Aug. 7 and chances are a football will arc toward you, rocketed from a JUGS machine 60 yards away. "They advertise that the machine can do a perfect spiral for up to a hundred yards," says Tim Laun (above, right), who created this piece of interactive football art. "Take that moment out of the game, and the punt becomes very authentic in form--the arc, the height and the speed." Laun also photographs participants in the act of punt reception. "The alpha male of the group will stop, see what's happening and walk toward the ball," he says, "instinctively waiting for his turn to catch."