Carsten Höller applies scientific curiosity to his work as an artist, exploring human behavior, perception, and altered states of consciousness with playful, sometimes unsettling humor.
gagosian.com
Born in 1961 in Brussels, Höller began to make art in the late 1980s After studying olfactory communication in insects at the University of Kiel, where he received a doctorate in agricultural science in 1988. Some time after he decided to give up scientific word for the sake of art, however, science never left him. All his installations are part of experiments where the viewer is the active lump of it.
One of Carsten's work is a slides installations mainly galleries and museums around the word, including permanently fixed in Prada headquarters in Milan, Italy. His art is dedicated to all age group with at least touch of inner child, and craving for fun, which in my case will never ends.
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| Carsten Höller – Double Slide, 2009, Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb |
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| Carsten Höller - The Line |
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| ArcelorMittal Orbit in London | Amusing Planet |
Carsten created Flying Machine first in 1996 and later in 2015 was on display in "Decision" at the Hayward Gallery, London. The concept of the installation is mimic of the hang glider where you can wear harness and hold to the bar, then motorised arm will spin you round, creating flying sensation. Because, who didn't dreamed about free flying as a child? Definitely me, and Höller make it happen, however his machine was displayed temporary and with broken hard I have to admit there might be no more exhibition of it.
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I like the enclosure and high of his designs, I might introduce that to my plan of the slide, like high construction with staircase inside of it.
References:
Blythe, F. (2021). Carsten Höller: flying machines, giant slides and psychoactive reindeer urine – HERO. [online] Hero. Available at: https://hero-magazine.com/article/188937/carsten-holler [Accessed 20 May 2025].
Gagosian, L. (2018). Carsten Höller. [online] Gagosian. Available at: https://gagosian.com/artists/carsten-holler/.
Public Delivery (2025). Carsten Höller’s slides: A fun way to experience museums – Public Delivery. [online] Public Delivery. Available at: https://publicdelivery.org/carsten-hoeller-slides/.
The Art Story (n.d.). Carsten Höller Paintings, Bio, Ideas. [online] The Art Story. Available at: https://www.theartstory.org/artist/holler-carsten/.
Would like to hear about how this research has influenced your designs for the slide and the swing - why did you choose Holler? Wasn't there an example you showed me of his creation of a specific piece of play equipment?
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