carsten höller replicates poisonous, hallucinogenic mushrooms for exhibition ‘new long term project’

Poisonous and psychoactive qualities

When artist Carsten Höller seeks to understand alternative perceptions and ways of knowing, he likens the exploration and discoveries to Fly agaric mushrooms (‘Amanita muscaria’). The bowl-shaped, scarlet cap of the mushroom – at times flecked with white spots – entices, one of the many reasons it has been used for over 4,000 years in sacred rituals and ceremonies across the world.

For instance in India and Iran, it is infused as an ingredient to produce the hallucinogenic drink called ‘Soma.’ Based on research, Fly agaric is highly toxic and famed for its psychoactive and hallucinogenic properties. The mushroom contains a substance called ‘ibotenic acid’ which attracts and kills flies, the derivation of its name ‘fly.’

Past the poisonous and psychoactive qualities it possesses, Höller notes the allure Fly agaric weaves in its delicate structure. Hypnotism toward its stark color against the muddy earth pulls anyone to gaze on it, to invite to take a close look and study its body. A fascination over the way shamanic rituals and folk, popular, and underground culture revere the mushroom holds the attention of Höller, who has transformed his inquisitive nature toward Fly agaric into an exhibition at Galleria Continua.

images from Galleria Continua / Les Moulins and by Oak Taylor-Smith

A forest of giant mushrooms

Titled ‘New long term project,’ Höller plants a forest of giant mushroom sculptures at the gallery in Le Moulin de Sainte-Marie with the family of Fly agaric taking the lead. The scientific exploration stems from the artist’s background as a scientist, an element he conjures up into his artistry. He concentrates on the nature of human relationships and extends his theme to research the ideas behind ‘double’ and the ‘principle of division.’

As the artist believes, perception comes first before contemplation and understanding, all through separation and division of an entity, object, or element from its theoretically endless environment. ‘The undivided whole remains an enigma within our means, of course, and only to a certain extent,’ he shares with Galleria Continua.

Inside the exhibition space, sun and artificial light underline the fine details of the life-sized mushrooms, dwarfing the viewers to let them scrutinize what the mushrooms conceal underneath their vivid caps. The opulent and gray atmosphere quashes visual distractions and escorts the viewers to take their time in studying the cracks, folds, and flecks of the sculptures.

carsten höller replicates poisonous, hallucinogenic mushrooms for exhibition ‘new long term project’

Mysterious beings

The inflection of mushrooms as mysterious beings that seem to spring from the land, foreigners of time and to those who do not religiously study them, visually chide throughout the exhibition: dark spots over white stalks, earth-covered sacks, changing growth structures, gills resembling sheets of paper, and bent and upward-folding caps.

When Galleria Continua characterizes mushrooms in line with Höller artistic vision and research, it notes the absence of or a reduced sense from an evolutionary context of the often extravagant shapes, colors, and ingredients of mushrooms, hence they pose as symbols of ambiguity and uncertainty. The gallery continues that one’s existence has been linked to mushrooms, which thrive even in the most unfavorable placements and braving through geological eras and ecological disasters.

The poignant volatility then of mushrooms cements the very first exhibition of Höller at Galleria Continua in Le Moulin de Sainte-Marie. The macrocosmic energy encrusted around the sculptures betrays no hint of their artist’s desire to divulge into the ways one understands and knows.

fly agaric has been used for over 4,000 years in sacred rituals and ceremonies