About eight years ago, artist Carsten Höller sent Brits shooting down “Test Site,” a series of five intertwining, metal slides in London’s Tate Modern Turbine Hall. For the most part, the installation was a success with the art world and public—despite causing several injuries.
Now, the experimental Belgian artist is bringing back the slides to the Hayward Gallery for his multifaceted exhibit “Decision.” The two fixtures, titled “Isometric Slides,” will be attached on the outside of the gallery. Serving as an optional exit of the Brutalist building (designed by Dennis Crompton, Warren Chalk and Ron Herron), museum-goers will climb through the glass, trapezoidal awnings at the top of the building to descend the 15.5 meter (49-foot) slides, and return to the museum’s entrance.
According to BBC, Höller wants to make visitors reflect on decisions they make, ergo the choice between not only two exit options, but two entrances as well.
The exhibit will also feature Flying Machines, installed in the outdoor terrace, which is similar to a free fall drop at an amusement park in how you are positioned within the interactive piece, but works more like a swing ride where you ascend in a circular path, while looking over the Waterloo Bridge.
New work commissioned for “Decision” include “Moving Beds” (two robotic beds with synched movements moving throughout the galleries), and “Flying Mushrooms” (a hanging mobile made of sculpted, upside-down psychedelic mushrooms).
The exhibit will run from June 10 to Sep. 6 2015.
