To win

Of the various projects we have been working on since the beginning of the year, I would like to report the full set of new labels for the wines of Suavia, a winery located in the heart of the Soave, near Verona.

"The thing most feared in secret always happens". (Cesare Pavese) I was afraid that Yu-na Kim might not win. I was afraid that the judges' discretion, although disciplined and ensnared by the current system of scoring, could play against him in Sochi. I was seriously afraid, because anyone in love, seriously, fears the potential disasters threatening the beloved. And it was heartbreaking to hear Max Ambesi announce with a tremble in his voice even though he’s always so collected, the so-called crime of the jury ("I don’t believe, I don’t believe it !") just before the onset of the overlays that sealed the defeat. The heavy defeat in a few more ice cold numbers. Max Ambesi, who is tremendous sports, fell just as deep as I did into the "trap of victory". But he was the one to get up first. Immediately after defining "robbery," the crime committed by the so-called judges, he tried to rationally justify their actions. Realizing that the rational reasons would not have filled up the measure to duty, he shifted the focus to where it was necessary, or the very concept of victory. Revaluating the weight, the value, by virtue of higher aesthetic and ethical values, then, coming to relativize it and personalize the outcome ("The winner for me is Yu-na Kim...").  

"How many criteria for judging a person? Not many. Brutally, we judge people as good or bad, brave or cowardly, belonging to our group or not, talented or devoid of talent, winers or losers. Naturally, each of these criteria has its nuances or subcategories, but the basic situation is this. If I am asked what is the dominant criterion today I would say the latter. The most important thing is to win. It’s the motto of sales, celebritis, world domination, as the Americans say”. (Tim Parks)

  Let us be clear: it is difficult to reduce the weight of victory, success, precisely because the rule mentioned by Parks (speaks to counter it) is overwhelming and under the eyes of all. A famous Italian soccer team embroidered the following phrase on their jersey: "Winning is the only thing that counts," contrary to the educational value of sport. No one has objected to it and many have praised the spirit of the phrase as strong, "manly" so to speak. It is a small sign, almost ridiculously so. But it's often the little signs that are measure of incipient large drifts. Without values to support a culture of winning and losing, the risk is serious, the drift.  

But you know: to raise these issues, especially the day after a loss, you may only hear the Aesop’s tale of the fox and the grapes. Or at most be judged with sterile intellectualism and snobbish highbrow - also justified by this latest quote: "Where all success is legitamate / and you swap glances and the promise / in the scent of wine and other things / you serve the defeat, serve the spirit." (G. Benn)

  Honestly, I wonder what would have been another victory for my Kim ? Was it really necessary to define the greatest figure skater in history? And maybe now, without this latest victory I do not feel entitled to consider that? The judgment of the panel in any way detracts from the invincible magic of grace and beauty that was given to us in those minutes? What would be another gold medal if you do one more thing, another vanity? But how I will cherish in my memory because of the serious injustice? Because it will be remind me that figure skating is above all the grace and harmony and not the number of jumps and spins" (Silvia Fontana). I and I alone, and not the judges, are responsible for my emotions, and the memory. Because this judgment has made me more human, more fragile and therefore more beautiful. She risked becoming an icon, unbeatable, untouchable (which was already beginning to seem a bit like idolization, like back in her home country). The judges’ decision made me appreciate the beauty in the toughest defeats, cultured with the same grace and lightness expressed during her triumphal days.  

That victory was likely to be one more thing, another vanity to show off, it had turned into something "limitless, unending, capable of taking any form or color and bound to none. In some way, it exists. It will live and grow, like music, and will remain with me to the end". (JLBorges)

03/03/2014 Filippo Maglione