In October 2003, an unassuming red-and-white information booth appeared overnight in Vienna’s Karlsplatz, emblazoned with the Nike Swoosh, a website address, and the phrase: “Nikeplatz (formerly Karlsplatz).” The installation, seemingly backed by the global sportswear brand Nike, claimed that the historic square had been renamed Nikeplatz, mimicking the corporate naming practices commonly seen in sports stadiums. Visitors to the booth or website were introduced to a fictional campaign to rename European cities after Nike, with proposed locations like Nike Strasse, Nike Square, and Nike Street. The campaign suggested, “You want to wear it, why shouldn’t cities wear it too?” and promised a massive Swoosh sculpture as the centerpiece of the rebranding effort.
However, journalists quickly discovered the truth: this was not a corporate initiative but an elaborate hoax orchestrated by artists Eva and Franco Mattes. Their project, Nike Ground, satirized corporate encroachment into public spaces and the commodification of cultural heritage. The intervention provoked outrage from citizens, city officials, and Nike itself, which responded with a lawsuit. Despite the legal battle, the artists successfully defended their work, symbolizing a rare victory of artistic critique over corporate power.
Nike Ground exemplifies the use of parafictional strategies, where fictional narratives are deliberately woven into the real world to interrogate perceptions of truth and trust. Unlike simulations that aim to blur the boundaries of reality, parafiction manipulates reality itself, creating situations where fiction is experienced as fact. For many Viennese citizens, the renaming of Karlsplatz appeared entirely plausible, as it resonated with the growing normalization of corporate branding in public and cultural domains. This credibility underscores the “truth status” parafiction achieves for specific audiences, even if temporarily.
The work critiques a postmodern landscape where public trust is increasingly commodified and manipulated by corporate interests. The question posed—“You want to wear it, why shouldn’t cities wear it too?”—deliberately mimics the absurd logic of consumerism, exposing the ease with which public spaces can be transformed into sites of profit-driven branding. Through their intervention, Eva and Franco Mattes transformed the city itself into a stage for critical reflection, forcing a confrontation between citizens and the encroaching dominance of corporate influence in everyday life.
Nike Ground underscores the precarious relationship between art, commerce, and public trust. By fabricating a campaign that echoed real-world corporate behavior, the artists exposed the vulnerabilities of civic identity and the extent to which corporate narratives can infiltrate and co-opt public spaces. The lawsuit launched by Nike only reinforced the critique, illustrating the lengths to which corporations will go to defend their image, even when faced with satire.
At its core, Nike Ground serves as a sharp critique of late capitalism’s colonization of public and cultural domains. By merging art with activism, the project invited audiences to question their complicity in allowing corporations to reshape the world under the guise of innovation and progress. In doing so, the Mattes not only challenged the ethics of corporate branding but also spotlighted art’s potential to disrupt and reframe contemporary power structures.
