carsten höller: > synchro system< and other works

carsten höller: > synchro system <.... in a few years he has become one of europe's most noted and influential young artists .....................................

......................... shop .................. competitions .............. education ................ interviews ................... snapshots ................... history .......... contemporary

carsten höller

born in brussels in 1961, lives in cologne and stockholm.
he studied agricultural sciences at the university of kiel.
in a few years he has become one of europe's most noted
and influential young artists.
his artistic work is often based on his knowledge as a biologist
and explores theories of evolution that regard human sentiments,
such as love and happiness,
primarily as strategies for the successful reproduction of genetic
material and he often, in a rather playful way, observes the human
being as an animal amongst other animals.
in the early 1990s, he invented a number of objects aimed at the
products of unfettered reproductive instincts - that is to say, at children.
this included, for example, a bicycle which exploded at the first push
of the pedal...

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solo exhibitions
some solo exhibitions include

'killing children I and II', lukas & hoffmann, berlin (1993);
'pest control', mosel und tschechov, munich (1993);
'summer garden' (with lily van der stokker) air de paris, paris (1994);

in 'you room' (first shown as 'du you' in cologne's schipper & krome
gallery in 1994), höller placed a love potion with various scientific
aids to perception in a psychedelic-stylized space, engaging the viewer
in physical and sensory experiments.

'loverfinches', ars futura, zurich (1994);
'killing children III', ynglingagatan, theoretical events, naples (1995);

the exhibition 'glück' (happiness), which was shown at the kunstverein
in hamburg, at the kunstverein in cologne and at the centraal museum
in utrecht in 1996-97, contained a virtually weightless and thus easily
transported aeroplane, which could also be used as a single-seater helicopter,
as well as a strawberry patch with artifical irrigation which could be placed
anywhere.

'skop', wiener secession, vienna (1996);

1998-99, the exhibition, 'new world' refers to how we strive,
through play and competition, to change and develop,
but also to move towards more intangible goals.
the exhibition was constructed around a race track set up in the
museum´s long corridor and contains, among other things,
inventive and remarkable vechicles/sculptures, photographs with
instructions for invented games not requiring toys and two films on
human behavior:
the video that depicts several episodes from the life of 'hoffmann'.
is about that now-famous bicycle ride on which the swiss chemist
hoffmann, who invented LSD, realized just what an acid trip is.
in the second, 'punktefilm' (film of points), a dancing couple is depicted
from twelve perspectives, disappearing incrementally with each step.
the exhibition has been featured at the museum fuer gegenwartskunst
in basel, switzerland and at the moderna museet in stockholm, sweden.

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group exhibitions
his work is included in group exhibitions as

'e', kunstlerhaus bethanien, berlin (1993);
'l'hiver de l'amour', musée d'art moderne de la ville de paris (1994);
biennale de lyon, maison de lyon, lyon (1995);
'manifesta 1', rotterdam (1996);

in documenta X, kassel 1997 carsten höller, together with rosemarie trockel,
born in schwerte in 1952, presented the much noted work
'ein haus für schweine und menschen' (a house for swine and people):
an 8 x 12 m concrete house in which the exhibition visitors,
lying down on the floor, could observe a family of pigs through a window
which only the visitors could see through.
höller and trockel’s works are truly a borderline experience, the mimicry
of a natural way of keeping the participating animals is also present in the
aesthetics of the 'silberfischchenhaus' (silverfish house).
carsten höller and rosemarie trockel present us with a sculpture
(the course silverfish follow on the base of an overhead projector from where
the shy animals disappear at the slightest disturbance)
and an image (the projection of the projector on the wall).
these behavioral experiments are of extraordinary meritan: the simple
encounter between man and animal teaches us something about the way
in which we perceive borders and boundaries.
the artists presented in 1999 'maisons/häuser', musée d’dart moderne
de la ville de paris, paris
and during the expo 2000 in hannover, the installation 'eyball',
a house for pigeons, human beeings and rats.

'belladonna', institute of contemporary arts, london (1997);

a surprise effect is important for höller,
for example the 'slides', two installations at 'berlin/berlin'
1998, during the biennale for contemporary art.
slide-devices that stimulate a reaction that's uncontrollable,and thus surprising,
not only for those sliding, but also for those watching.

and 'hundert jahre wiener secession', wiener secession, vienna (1998).

one of höller's most recent work, is his 'laboratorium of doubt',
which started in antwerp in June 1999 as part of 'laboratorium'.
the point of departure was the 'b-p-e laboratorium of doubt',
a project that höller could not realize because he could not rent,
lease, or borrow buckminster fuller's dymaxion car.
he wanted to show this object in a way which would have risen
doubts about the 'purity' of it's representation.
'since this project had failed, I have no idea of what my contribution
to 'laboratorium' could be...' he said, '...the best thing to do when you
are expected to do but cannot do is not to do. do not, and because this
is impossible, do less.
I am aware there is a budget to be spent, which I can spend on doing
the do less. should I give the money to whoever wants it for doing less?
money is difficult to use for doing less.
or should I use it to pay an advertising agency to promote the less-doing?'

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http://laboratorium.antwerpenopen.be/home_en.htm
http://www.feedmag.com/art/re_hoeller2.html
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'senso couch',
detail of the exhibition 'du you', 1994
© carsten höller
courtesy gallery schipper&krome

'aquarium', 1996
© carsten höller
courtesy xcult.ch

'220 volt', 1994
© carsten höller
courtesy the artist

'ein haus für schweine und menschen', 1998
© carsten höller/rosemarie trockel
courtesy documenta, kassel

'die rutsche' (the slide), 1998
biennale for contemporary art, berlin