LONDON.- Hayward Publishing announces the release of Carsten Höller: Decision, the two-part publication accompanying the exhibition by the Belgian artist at Hayward Gallery, London (10 June – 6 September 2015).
Comprising two books, Carsten Höller: Decision offers a unique and invigorating take on the traditional exhibition catalogue. The first volume presents a collection of new short stories exploring the theme of decision-making by acclaimed writers Naomi Alderman, Jenni Fagan, Jonathan Lethem, Deborah Levy, Helen Oyeyemi and Ali Smith.
The second volume offers an extensive visual record of the exhibition taken by two photographers simultaneously, accompanied by an in-depth interview with the artist, led by Ralph Rugoff, Hayward Gallery Director and curator of the show.
Beautifully illustrated and packaged, Carsten Höller: Decision offers an illuminating and original exploration of Höller’s immersive work, as well as a stimulating visual and literary experience for lovers of art, fiction, and human nature.
Carsten Höller: Decision is the artist’s largest survey show in the UK to date.
The exhibition, which sprawls across Hayward Gallery and erupts beyond its roof and walls, explores perception and decision making.
Confronting visitors with a series of choices, it features mirrors, disconcerting doubles and mysterious objects which together create an impression of a world where nothing is quite as it seems.
Born in Belgium to German parents, Höller trained as a scientist – gaining an advanced degree in agricultural entomology – before becoming an artist.
Over the past 20 years Höller has created experiential installations, participatory artworks and immersive environments.
These often feature disorientating architecture and perception-altering devices, which Holler refers to as 'artificial limbs for parts of your body that you don't even know you've lost'.
Believing that 'people are often more powerful than artworks', Holler sees his work as 'incomplete' without visitor interaction. Under Höller, Hayward Gallery is transformed into a platform – part laboratory, part playground – dedicated solely to human experience.
Carsten Höller lives and works in Stockholm. His 2006 installation Test Site saw the artist install a series of giant slides in the Tate Modern's Turbine Hall.
His solo shows include Experience at the New Museum, New York (2011), Carrousel at the Kunsthaus Bregenz, Austria (2008) and Half Fiction at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston (2003).
