The Scandinavian artist duo Elmgreen & Dragset are the subject of a solo exhibition titled Short Story, running from April 21 to October 24, 2021, at Copenhagen Contemporary, Denmark’s foremost contemporary art center focused on showcasing large-scale installations by international artists. In celebration of their solo show, the duo transformed Hall 2 of the venue into a tennis court featuring three figures, creating a surreal environment to raise attention to subjects such as competitiveness, individualism, and ideas of inclusion and exclusion implied by modern society.

In the gallery, which takes the form of a generic tennis court, stand three sculptures—each named Flo, Kev, and Bogdan. Flo and Kev, placed on opposite sides of the court divided in two by the net, induce a heightened sense of discomfort and tension, making it difficult for the viewer to distinguish between the winner and the loser. The third figurative sculpture depicts Bogdan, an elderly man half asleep in his wheelchair. With his eyelids closing, Bogdan appears aloof from the situation occurring between the two boys, withdrawing from the reality surrounding him. By portraying an emotionally charged moment after a tennis match, Elmgreen & Dragset allow the audience to interpret and understand the dynamics of the situation upon their own perspective, rather than providing a confirmed narrative. As suggested from the title of the exhibition—Short Story—the installation is almost reminiscent of a scene in a movie, conveying complex ideas in a very compact manner which allows for the audience to somberly reflect on the situation at hand.