Carsten Höller: Carrousel at the Kunsthaus Bregenz, Austria, presents five interrelated works of the internationally renowned German artist Carsten Höller (born 1961 in Brussels, Belgium; lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden). For Bregenz, Carsten Höller staged his most comprehensive solo exhibition in Austria to date. The show involves five works of rotating and repeating elements. On the ground floor the Kunsthaus Bregenz shows Carsten Höller’s huge carrousel “R B Ride” (2007). On the first floor, visitors experience an overwhelming light space, which creates the impression of the room itself rotating. The second floor is optically divided diagonally, one side with mirrored walls. For the third floor, Carsten Höller has constructed the “Drehendes Hotelzimmer”, a revolving hotel room. Interested visitors can book the room for one night on Fridays or Saturdays. And then there’s a view out of the hotel room created by a projection screen. In the projection’s foreground, the “Fliegende Stadt” can be seen with its rotating towers, a transparent construction based upon Russian architect Georgi Krutikow’s 1928 thesis, whose utopian vision was of a flying city, where people would live and work, returning to earth only for recreation.
Carsten Höller: Carrousel / Kunsthaus Bregenz, Austria. Opening reception, April 11, 2008.
PS: In October 2006 we shot down Carsten Höller’s biggest slide at the Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall. Click here to take a ride.
> Right-click (Mac: ctrl-click) this link to download Quicktime video file.