KARSTEN HÖLLER – LEBEN
Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, Vienna
10 July – 23 November 2014
A sense of weightlessness and sensory equilibrium. The exhibition is accompanied and structured by Half Clock, a newly created work that functions as both a utilitarian time display and a seemingly illogical conundrum, with its apparent ability to alternately speed up or slow down the passage of time. High above the heads of viewers, two pairs of trained bullfinches housed within a set of balanced aviaries form the Bullfinch Scale and whistle the song Longing for Lullabies by Swedish singer Tiitiyo, that becomes part of the of the exhibition.
The newly created film installation Fara Fara shows auditions and rehearsals for a musical clash between two stars of the vibrant Congolese music scene. The work introduces themes of duality and juxtaposition. Similar themes of duplication and division are prominent in Höller’s Vienna Twins. Here, two identical siblings lead a completely logical, and at the same time confusing, conversation with a rhythmic and repetitive structure.
Outside, on the Augarten grounds, a moment of visual dissection is captured sculpturally in the Giant Multiple Mushrooms. The two oversized fungi, one mature and the other still developing, are composed of four split mushroom bodies and constitute a surreal moment of hybridity.
A special installation of the iconic work Y (2003); a split passageway encircled by a seemingly infinite halo of white light bulbs, is presented in the Upper Belvedere. Remaining stationary, the structure appears to be spinning in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction, depending on the direction of the light sequence, and draws viewers into it. Höller created this work in 2003 for Dreams and Conflicts. Delays and Revolution shown in the Italian Pavilion at the Venice Bienniale.
Photo: Attilio Maranzano
Copyright: Carsten Höller / Bildrecht Vienna 2014
KARSTEN HÖLLER – LEBEN
Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary, Vienna
10 July – 23 November 2014
A sense of weightlessness and sensory equilibrium. The exhibition is accompanied and structured by Half Clock, a newly created work that functions as both a utilitarian time display and a seemingly illogical conundrum, with its apparent ability to alternately speed up or slow down the passage of time. High above the heads of viewers, two pairs of trained bullfinches housed within a set of balanced aviaries form the Bullfinch Scale and whistle the song Longing for Lullabies by Swedish singer Tiitiyo, that becomes part of the of the exhibition.
The newly created film installation Fara Fara shows auditions and rehearsals for a musical clash between two stars of the vibrant Congolese music scene. The work introduces themes of duality and juxtaposition. Similar themes of duplication and division are prominent in Höller’s Vienna Twins. Here, two identical siblings lead a completely logical, and at the same time confusing, conversation with a rhythmic and repetitive structure.
Outside, on the Augarten grounds, a moment of visual dissection is captured sculpturally in the Giant Multiple Mushrooms. The two oversized fungi, one mature and the other still developing, are composed of four split mushroom bodies and constitute a surreal moment of hybridity.
A special installation of the iconic work Y (2003); a split passageway encircled by a seemingly infinite halo of white light bulbs, is presented in the Upper Belvedere. Remaining stationary, the structure appears to be spinning in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction, depending on the direction of the light sequence, and draws viewers into it. Höller created this work in 2003 for Dreams and Conflicts. Delays and Revolution shown in the Italian Pavilion at the Venice Bienniale.
Photo: Attilio Maranzano
Copyright: Carsten Höller / Bildrecht Vienna 2014