carsten höller invites play and physical manipulation in mexico city survey

at mexico city’s museo tamayo arte contemporáneo, carsten höller is presenting his first survey in latin america — sunday. the museum’s unique architecture became a source of inspiration for the artist: it is designed as a pyramid in reference to the pre-hispanic architectural history of the area of chapultepec. with this in mind, höller has created a site-specific installation, ‘decision tubes’, which sees a delicately suspended net-like structure allow visitors to wander above the museum floor. meandering pathways force viewers to follow multiple curves, while at the same time having to decide which corridor to take, and in which tube to proceed.’decision tubes’ is a symbol of höller’s oeuvre overall — inverting seemingly straightforward experiences.

installation view of ‘decision tubes’ at museo tamayo arte contemporáneo
image by ramiro chaves (also main image)

at museo tamayo arte contemporáneo, höller introduces the elements of play and the uncanny, infilling the institution with large-scale installations that recall the pleasure of a playground or amusement park. in sunday, höller continues to experiment with the hallucinogenic, fleeting sense of psychedelia. an updated version of höller’s ‘upside-down goggles’ is available for visitors to try on — a wearable tool that creates disorientation and alienation. 

seven sliding doors, 2014
installation view: burning down the hous , 10th gwangju biennale, gwangju, south korea (2014)
photo by attilio maranzano, courtesy the artist © carsten höller

meanwhile, höller’s ‘double neon elevator’ generates patterns of cascading light that mimic the sense of standing in a slowly descending and ascending elevator. there is also ‘six sliding doors’, a hallway of automatic, reflective portals that create consolidations of one’s own image. for sunday, höller invites visitors to manipulate their own emotional and physical states.

light wall, 2000/2017
installation view: henie onstad sanatorium, høvikodden, norway (2017)
photo by attilio maranzano, courtesy the artist and henie onstad kunstsenter, hovikudden © carsten höller

installation view of ‘light wall’ at museo tamayo arte contemporáneo
image by ramiro chaves

double neon elevator, 2016
installation view: doubt, pirelli hangarbicocca, milan, italy (2016)
photo by attilio maranzano, courtesy the artist, and with support by inelcom, madrid © carsten höller

upside-down goggles, 1994-ongoing
installation view: carsten höller: decision, hayward gallery, london, united kingdom (2015)
photo by elzbieta bialkowska, courtesy the artist © carsten höller

pill clock (red and white pills), 2015
installation view: carsten höller: decision, hayward gallery, london, united kingdom (2015)
photo by attilio maranzano, courtesy the artist © carsten höller