Flying over London, walking through a corridor of identical twins, vibrations that made your nose grow; Carsten Höller’s exhibition at the Hayward gallery continuously played with the audiences’ idea of a conventional gallery experience and perception of reality.
In the artist’s biggest show to be held in the UK to date, the human imagination and decision making process was the main focus of the exhibition. Immediately greeted by two doors, what is behind is unknown, the visitor is forced to decide which to take in order to enter the exhibition. Once inside, the visitor is plunged into darkness as they feel their way, trying to navigate towards the light at the end of the metal tunnel and into the gallery space. Here, they are met by giant revolving mushrooms that the audience is encouraged to manoeuvre themselves. Höller hoped these would create the impression of having a hallucination. This disorientating journey physically and mentally removes the audience from all aspects of daily life and transports them into the parallel world of Carsten Höller’s artistic playground.
The constant change in environment eliminated any perception of what is ‘normal’ or ‘ordinary’. As the visitor, you recognise from the outset that this is not anything you would ordinarily encounter or even expect, no matter how many reviews or articles you have read. In another area of the exhibition two robotically-engineered beds slowly roam the gallery space, in the same way that someone typically strolls through an art exhibit in a kind of slow motion, conjuring a mild paranoia that you are being watched by these inanimate objects. Are they just an installation or are they also trying to explore the world created around them while they can?
Arguably it was more like an interactive science museum, without the science, where the ‘viewer’ became the ‘participant’. Caught up in a series of experiments, the recurring nudge to make a decision as to how far you will participate caused a flicker of self-reflection, something often explored in art exhibits. But Höller’s show was far from what we expect from an exhibition. Regardless of whether it was his intention, the question ‘what is art?’ was inescapably in the back of my mind as I made my way around the Hayward gallery. From a pile of pills that you are invited to consume to a giant die that is large enough for those under 120cm (meaning children, of which there were many) to climb inside. Much to my disliking it made me question what kind of financial state our nations’ museums and galleries must be in to make one of them transform into a glorified playground.
Pill Clock: The visitor is invited to take a pill from the pile that has accumulated throughout the running of the exhibition as one drops from the ceiling every 3 seconds.
However, irrespective of how you define art or what you believe an art exhibition should be, there is no doubt that it was a fun, mysterious and witty experience. Höller wants you to let go and enjoy your time immersed in this distorted reality that is eclectic and whimsical. When there is another exhibition of Carsten Höller's work I will make sure to go, and I hope you do too.