hyères

Set in a former squash court, “The Court” represents Norbert Schoerner’s “attempt at a retrospective”. As with all of Schoerner’s work, however, looking back entails looking forward, and like the players whose eyes once followed the squash balls that ricocheted against the walls, the viewer’s gaze gets turned around, reversed, and frozen in the act of looking: a retrospective, then, that looks simultaneously towards the past and the future.

Entering the space through a mezzanine and descending into a claustrophobic antechamber, one sees a concrete gate with screens mounted on either side. Re-purposed images of Schoerner’s past works flash upon the screens. The room is tight; the past affords little breathing space.

Moving through a gate one steps into the present, or the future. The squash court has been merged with a museum. An unassuming bench stands in the middle of the room. Photos are presented in traditional frames. The images are formal, reminding one somehow of impressionism or romanticism: a moment frozen in time, the human relation to landscape, an idea of portraiture... Flowers are arranged before white screens evoking naturalism, a luscious still life, a whole history of representation... Increasingly, one notices the emptiness of the wall upon which the squash balls were once hit. It contains the energy and history of impact. Soon, the gaze bounces back to the pictures, then to the antechamber. The museum / squash game continues...

- Stephen Tateishi