Messi’s iconic goal becomes AI-powered artwork for Christie’s auction

Digital artist Refik Anadol has transformed Lionel Messi‘s favorite goal into an AI-powered immersive artwork called “A Goal in Life,” which will be auctioned at Christie’s New York from July 8-22. The piece reimagines Messi’s 2009 Champions League final header against Manchester United using millions of data points, with proceeds benefiting Latin American and Caribbean education programs through the Inter Miami CF Foundation.

What you should know: Anadol created what he calls a “memory temple” that allows viewers to relive Messi’s iconic moment through advanced AI visualization technology.

• The eight-minute AI Data Sculpture uses 17 body movement points extracted from Messi’s goal, combined with biometric data from recent interviews including his voice patterns, breathing, and heartbeat rhythms.
• Viewers experience the work through encircling 16K resolution screens that shift between studio footage of Messi, panoramic angles of the original goal, digitized anthropometric grids, and abstract color visualizations.
• The winning bidder receives a certificate of authenticity signed by both Messi and Anadol, plus ongoing access to the immersive experience.

Why this goal matters: Messi himself considers his header against Manchester United his career-defining moment, despite scoring over 860 goals across two decades.

• The goal clinched Barcelona’s victory in the 2009 Champions League final and helped secure the club’s first treble.
• As Messi described it, the goal represents “a special moment in my career,” with the diminutive forward’s rare header creating an unusual parabolic trajectory that found the net.

The technology behind it: Anadol, known for creating hypnotic visualizations from massive datasets, employed his signature approach to capture both the physical and emotional dimensions of the moment.

• The base layer traces every movement and gesture from the original goal footage.
• Layered emotional data comes from Messi’s recent interviews, where his biometric responses were recorded as he discussed the goal.
• The result constantly shifts between realistic footage and pure abstraction, with “waves of color pool and sway” representing the emotional intensity.

Public access: Christie’s will offer free immersive exhibitions at their Rockefeller Center location from July 12-22, allowing the public to experience the work before the auction concludes.

What they’re saying: “For me, this work is about transforming the data from Messi’s favorite goal into living memory—something that we have never done before,” Anadol explained. “This work redefines how we experience memory through art.”