Hayward Gallery presents Carsten Holler’s largest survey show in the UK to date, with a wide range of Höller’s works, from newly-made pieces that have been especially commissioned, to key early artworks like The Pinocchio Effect (1994) and Upside Down Goggles (1994-2009). It brings together kinetic sculptures, videos, installations and light works that are designed to profoundly re-orientate our awareness of time and space, reflecting Höller’s wide-ranging interest in the nature of consciousness.
On entering Carsten Höller: Decision visitors become part of the exhibition, their varied actions and reactions as vital to the artist, and to other visitors, as the works themselves. While many of the works are participatory and immersive – transforming the visitors’ physical and that lead them to question their habitual perceptions – they also encourage reflection. As Höller states, ‘it’s possible to experience the work through other people, to see it from the outside, or to just contemplate it’.
As indicated by its title, decision-making is a focus of the exhibition. Visitors to the Hayward Gallery show constantly need to reflect on the choices and decisions they make, beginning with how they enter the gallery: two separate entrances are available, each providing a different route through the first part of the exhibition. Pill Clock (2011-2015), a ceiling-mounted timepiece that will drop over one million pills onto the gallery floor during the course of the exhibition, poses a different kind of conundrum for visitors: the installation includes a drinking fountain for those visitors who decide to take one of the pills and face its unknown effects.
Other Highlights of the show include Flying Mushrooms (2015), a new large-scale work of an upside-down mobile with giant psychedelic mushrooms; Two Flying Machines (2015) installed on one of the Hayward’s outdoor terraces, opposite Waterloo Bridge, offering visitors the sensation of soaring above city traffic; The Pinocchio Effect (1994) giving visitors the uncanny sensation that their nose is growing; and Two Roaming Beds (Grey) (2015), a pair of robotic beds that roam the galleries in slow motion and which can be booked for an exclusive overnight stay for the duration of the exhibition – with full access to all the works.
海沃德畫廊为卡斯滕·侯勒舉辦了迄今為止藝術家在英國最大的主題展《卡斯滕·侯勒：抉擇》，該展覽涵蓋了侯勒多元化的作品，從其為此次展覽訂製的全新作品，到其早期的重要作品《匹諾曹效應（Pinocchio Effect, 1994）》以及《顛倒世界護目鏡（Upside Down Goggles, 1994-2009）》。展覽彙集了動態雕塑、影像、裝置以及燈光作品，旨在重新定義我們對於時間與空間的認知，反映了侯勒對於意識的本質的廣泛興趣。
在進入《卡斯滕·侯勒：抉擇》的一刻，觀眾既成為展覽的一部份，他們不同的行動與反應，對於藝術家、其他觀者，甚至是藝術作品本身同樣重要。對於許多作品，觀眾都可以參與其中，身臨其境，激起反思，通過改變觀眾的身體感覺來引導他們去質疑其慣常的看法。正如侯勒自述：“通過他人來感受作品是合情合理的──通過從外界的觀察，或者僅僅是通過註視。”
正如展覽題目所示，“抉擇”是展覽的焦點。到海沃德畫廊的觀眾需要不斷反思自己的選擇，做出他們的決定，從一進入畫廊便開始了：有兩個獨立的入口可供進入，每一個入口都提供了一條參觀展覽第一部份作品的不同路線。《膠囊鐘（Pill Clock, 2011﹣2015）》是安裝在天花板上的時鐘，將會在展覽期間向畫廊地面掉落超過一百萬粒膠囊，與飲水池的裝置作品一起向觀眾拋出了一個別樣的抉擇難題：是否要吃一粒膠囊，是否要面對膠囊對於自己會產生的未知影響。
展覽的其他精彩亮點還包括《飛行蘑菇(Flying Mushrooms, 2015)》，一個安裝了巨型迷幻蘑菇的倒置了的移動裝置作品；《兩架飛行器（Two Flying Machines, 2015）》，安裝在海沃德畫廊的一個戶外露臺上的互動裝置，恰在滑鐵盧橋對面，為觀眾提供了在城市交通上飛翔的奇異感覺；《匹諾曹效應（Pinocchio Effect, 1994）》，讓觀眾有一種他們的鼻子在不斷變長的不可思議的感覺；以及《兩張漫遊床（灰）（Two Roaming Beds, Grey, 2015）》，兩張床型機器人以極慢的動作在畫廊裏遊走，在展覽期間人們可以預定在這兩張床上夜宿，夜宿的同時還可以接觸到其他所有作品。
Tips 小貼士
展覽場地：Hayward Gallery海沃德畫廊
展覽時間：10.06.2015 – 06.09.2015
更多信息：www.southbankcentre.co.uk
