In "The Tennis Game. In Dialogue with Boris Groys" by Ilya & Emilia Kabakov, the audience becomes part of an intellectual exchange of blows. The installation at the Kunsthaus Zug Schaudepot invites you to think along with them.
In "The Tennis Game. In Dialogue with Boris Groys" by Ilya & Emilia Kabakov, the audience becomes part of an intellectual exchange of blows. The installation at the Kunsthaus Zug Schaudepot invites you to think along with them.
"The subject "animal" makes me feel perplexed" - this is how the monumental work "The Tennis Game" (2000) by Ilya & Emilia Kabakov, which can be seen at the Kunsthaus Zug Schaudepot, begins. It quickly becomes clear that what is meant is not the animal, but the human being - caught up in the maelstrom of social and global political developments.
What follows is a fast-paced exchange of profound questions, humorous remarks and sober confessions between Ilya Kabakov and the philosopher Boris Groys. Their question-and-answer (tennis) game on the slates that line the tennis court develops a captivating pull. Whoever steps onto the tennis court becomes part of the game - parries questions and falls under the spell of the game of thought.
Ilya & Emilia Kabakov are masters of the art of storytelling, as "The Tennis Game" impressively demonstrates. Their multi-layered work connects the incompatible and overcomes the divide between East and West by removing the utopia from both. The room-sized installation invites visitors to actively participate and connects the timeless work with the present day.