Hence we don’t follow a sporting competition, but their search for the right movements in the right moment - the precondition to make any match possible and smooth. As we see only a little bit of brooding can already make it difficult to get the ball over the net. During many small breaks between the rallies one can only guess from the faces of the actors, whether the ball still flies or not. The different mannerisms and rituals that should help to find the focus on the game again become visible: plucking the racket strings, repeatedly bouncing the ball before serving, placing the tennis bag in the same position on the bench.
At the beginning of this artistic research project there was a general interest in surfaces, especially those of the digital world, which in the course of the process shifted. More and more the concrete movements in a tennis match’s interspaces became the centre of it.
Patrick Wallochny says: “I am touched by the sheer sensuality of this gesture, the loving manner with which many people stroke the surface of their device. There is also a frightening aspect to it: I have the feeling that we have more and more surfaces in our lives that often interpret and determine reality, act as mediators and thus tend to reduce the complexity of things while we know absolutely nothing about the processes behind it, those that take place under the surfaces."
Project lead: Patrick Wallochny
Team and cooperation partners:
- Production: Ohne Falsch Film
- Cast: Katja Hutko, Viktor Bashmakov
- Cinematography: Ulrike von Au
- Sound: Lambert Regel
- Costume and make up: Iselin Brockes
- Camera assistant: Jan Thierhoff