Stockholm Slides by Carsten Höller: A Slide Artwork

(eap) A large-scale installation by Belgian-German artist Carsten Höller can now be admired – and used – on the exterior façade of Stockholm’s Moderna Museet since last weekend. The work consists of two slides, each approximately 39 meters long and identical in layout: one spirals down the building clockwise, while the other runs counterclockwise. Visitors aged six and older with a minimum height of 1.3 meters can borrow slide mats on the terrace of the museum’s fourth floor and race each other down.

© Photo: Courtesy of Wiegand Slides The two stainless steel slides that form Höller’s artwork were supplied by the German manufacturer Wiegand Slides. Carsten Höller – who holds a doctorate in agricultural science – is known for installations of this kind: his works operate at the intersection of art, experience, and perception, exploring the behavior and emotions of his audience. He describes the new slide installation in Stockholm as the experience of a controlled fall – a state of “voluptuous panic upon an otherwise lucid mind,” referencing sociologist Roger Caillois. ■