Game, set and match: Elmgreen & Dragset bring bittersweet sporty work to Berlin

The mischief-making Scandinavian artist duo Elmgreen & Dragset will no doubt make waves with a new work due called Short Story due to launch at König Gallery in Berlin (16 May-2 August). Only three visitors will be allowed in at any one time to see a full-size tennis court with two boys at either end; a third sculptural figure, a man slumped asleep in a wheelchair, will sit in a corner of the court. The white-painted bronze sculptures of the boys are turning away from each other—who has lost or won the game?—while the old gent seems oblivious to the scene playing out in front of him. The piece may well be a comment on individualism in the 21stcentury while the isolated figures bring to mind our new socially-distanced existence. “Short Story was originally supposed to open during the Gallery Weekend in April here in Berlin. It was planned a long time before the Covid crisis but somehow its narratives strangely fit our situation now,” says Michael Elmgreen (rather wistfully).