Carsten Holler. Holla!

So the age of patronage is alive and well. Unilever, that nebulous corporate chameleon, unveiled the new installation in their series at the Tate Modern on October 10th, an exhibit by fantastic scientist-cum-artist Carsten Höller.

This is the seventh in the Unilever-sponsored series in the massive Turbine Hall space, which has included exhibits from Louis Bourgeois, Juan Muñoz, Anish Kapoor, Rachel Whiteread, Bruce Nauman, and a totally amazing installation by Olafr Eliasson about weather, in which he basically built the sun. He is supposed to unveil a big collaboration with Louis Vuitton tomorrow, so more news about him later.

Moving on, Höller's exhibit also makes innovative use of the space, filling it with massive slides which people can ride. This is in line with a lot of his work, which explores large-scale interaction and physical space. Trained as a phytopathologist and agronomic entomologist, he specialized in insect communication for the first part of his career, and now works as an artist. Very cool stuff, informed by beautiful science. First we check out some of his fantastic past works, then we ride the slide, okay?


Upside Down Mushroom Room, 2000



Pink Sphere, 2001



on left:THE PLANT THAT IS BORED AND WANTS TO SEE MORE OF THE WORLD AROUND, 1994; on right: PLANT SUICIDE, 1994. Both are interactive - the bored plant moves around the space, and the suicide plant gets electrocuted as it grows.



Carousel, 1999-2000



KILLING CHILDREN II, 1992
The jerry can is filled with gas; if one rides the tricycle, the match burns the wick...

And now let's S L I I I I I I I E E E E E D E !


For Carsten Höller, the experience of sliding is best summed up in a phrase by the French writer Roger Caillois as a ‘voluptuous panic upon an otherwise lucid mind’. Me likey!