What?

Gabriel Fontana invites us to reimagine play at the Fluid Foosball Table, a reconfiguration of the beloved bar game. Like Fontana’s new team sports MULTIFORM, FLUID FIELD and ANONYMOUS ALLYSHIP, this table breaks free from rigid binary structures and fixed teams. There are no rules: the playing field is designed to be fluid and dynamic, and; the only question is in which direction the player chooses to send the ball. Through this seemingly simple intervention, this game challenges the boundaries of competition, collaboration and orientation.

Why?

Here, players experience what it means to belong to a team — or to no team at all. The flowing nature of the table mirrors the unpredictability of connection and individuality in play.
Through this piece, Fontana asks: What does it mean to engage with others when there are no predefined roles? And how can we connect in other ways?

How?

This Fluid Foosball Table is part of SIDELINED: A Space to Rethink Togetherness, the official Dutch contribution to Venice Architecture Biennale 2025. Developed by Gabriel Fontana and curator Amanda Pinatih, the exhibition transformed the Dutch Pavilion into an alternative sports bar — a playful yet critical space that questions the rules and rituals of social interaction.
SIDELINED was later on exhibited at Nieuwe Instituut from July 10, 2026 until January 31, 2027.