COURTPLAY • Hartwig Art Foundation

Designed as a three-act theatrical play, COURTPLAY deconstructed the familiar format of TV legal dramas, blending live performance with mini-marathons of artist films and site-specific installations. Works by a diverse range of writers and artists from around the world were positioned throughout the monument-listed atrium and former courtrooms, engaging directly with the building’s judicial history and institutional legacy. Throughout the event, visitors could explore the space freely, encountering thought-provoking works that challenged conventions of law, culture, and spectatorship, while food and drinks were available to encourage engagement and discussion.

At its core, COURTPLAY explored the tensions between legal traditions, cultural narratives, and the role of the audience. It questioned the blurred boundaries between witness, consumer, and participant, forcing attendees to reflect on their own roles within constructed systems of meaning. The title itself is a playful nod to Coldplay, referencing the band’s relationship with media spectacle and the linguistic shifts in public discourse—such as the widely discussed phrase “conscious uncoupling,” introduced by Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow as an alternative to “divorce.” This instance of legal language meeting social reinterpretation echoed the event’s broader themes, highlighting the fluidity of definitions and the way relationships—legal, artistic, and personal—are shaped by language, performance, and perception.