Adidas teams up with performance art icon Marina Abramović to celebrate the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. The three-minute film captures the first ever re-staging of Abramović’s iconic 1970s performance “Work Relation”—which focuses on commitment, teamwork and the strength found in togetherness—reimagined through the lens of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

“Working as a team maximizes commitment, dedication, and ultimately, performance. Collective energy is a source of great strength. This is what I came to find through the trials performed in ‘Work Relation’ (1978, with Ulay). These same qualities are necessary to the foundation of my institute, MAI, and to any unit. I find the commonalities between performance and sport very intriguing and was excited to highlight them in this project.” – Marina Abramović

First performed in 1978 by Abramović and her partner at the time Ulay, the original “Work Relation” was a groundbreaking form of performance art unveiled at the Theatre ann Rijn in Arnhem, The Netherlands. The original piece–seen reenacted in this film for the first time since 1979—consisted of three sequences, each presenting a unique model for transporting stones from one end of a room to another. Using only buckets and human labor, the three models compare and contrast systems of cooperation and efficiency, with the participants’ bodies serving as the medium. This performance, along with the rest of Abramović’s work, reshapes the role of the audience, bringing us into the experience, highlighting both the limits of the human form and the possibilities of the mind.

This 2014 execution of Abramović’s “Work Relation” revisits these same themes of the original, while also paying tribute to adidas’ partnership with the 2014 FIFA World Cup.  Shot on location at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn, NY, by filmmaker Dustin Lynn, the video reflects on the value of dedication and persistence, and the triumphant endurance and success of the group versus the individual.