Doubt: Carsten Höller at HangarBicocca

Maria Vittoria di Sabatino
13 apr 2016
Tempo di lettura: 2 min

Spring has come at last and amusement parks are opening back after the winter break. But why going to a Luna park when Carsten Höller's exhibition was freshly opened at the Pirelli HangarBicocca in Milan? 

Double Carousel, 2011. Courtesy of Designboom.com

Happening at the same time as MiArt, Doubt opened on April 7 and will be on display until July 31. Nevertheless, Höller's show is probably the most distant to an art fair one could find. The solo show occupies an enormous section of the HangarBicocca and displays a series of works requesting the interaction with the visitor. Interestingly, the exhibition warnings are almost as extensive as the exhibition booklet. For his “penetrating inquiry into the nature of human experience”, Carsten Höller and the curator Vicente Todolì are attracting the viewer by using the power of doubt – “May I enter the tunnel?” “Who is there on the other side of the phone?” “What is art?” “Is this art?” “May I sit under the aquarium?” and so on.

Installation view, Courtesy of Pirelli HangarBicocca.

The exhibition buzzes open with Double Carousel (2011), a walkable tunneling ribbed structure surrounded by alternating light bulbs. As an imminent contrast, the second work to be walked in is a pitch-black metal labyrinth alternating climbs and descents. On the other side of the mazy structure, a proper amusement park unravels: aquariums, giant twisted mushrooms, chair-o-planes, light corridors, mirror doors, etc. For the rest of the exhibition path, the visitor is invited to enter and play with the works on display; his attention is constantly requested to switch from one to the other work, like a kid in a candy store.

Installation view, Courtesy of Pirelli HangarBicocca.

Höller is not new to creating works of monumental size that involve the spectator in a full sensuous experience; indeed, Test Site (2006), a 55-meter-long slide, will be dearly missed at Tate Modern. The artist challenges the spectators, but he does not want to force them. He challenges them ironically and friendly, not to abuse of them, but to amuse them. 