Tunnel vision: Carsten Höller adds record-breaking slide to ArcelorMittal Orbit

Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
Thank you for signing up to Wallpaper. You will receive a verification email shortly.
There was a problem. Please refresh the page and try again.
Is it a slide... is it a work of art? Or is it a lucrative rescue mission for London’s very expensive Olympic artistic legacy?
'I really like the dirtiness of it and the confusion it creates,' says Carsten Höller, 'that you don’t really know what it is, but that it truly creates a unique experience.'
The artist is talking alongside Anish Kapoor as the first pieces of his new stainless steel slide are pieced together at the base of Kapoor’s own sculpture, the ArcelorMittal Orbit. Last year, the Belgian artist accepted an invitation by Kapoor to wrap a corkscrew slide around the Orbit, created for the 2012 Olympics. Höller accepted, and in June the spindly, steel-framed red scribble in the sky over East London will become the world’s longest, tallest, twistiest slide.
It's nine years since Höller’s Test Site slides delighted audiences in the Tate Modern Turbine Hall. The installation 'experiment' tested audience’s reactions to five different slides. Höller wanted to show that you don’t necessarily get to know a sculpture better by literally travelling through it; that once inside it begins to look like something else entirely. He's also interested in the unique states that humans have when we let go – 'somewhere between delight and madness', as he puts it.
The Slide, a permanent fixture at London’s Olympic Park, will give people a full 40 seconds to experience this and decide for themselves as they make their way down the 178m chute at an estimated 15mph.
In a purely formal sense, says Höller, you can see The Slide as 'two spirals' coming together. 'I like to use the term grafting that you use in horticulture – you put one thing on top of another and it starts to grow and function together without becoming totally mixed up,' he says.
It sounds natural and straightforward when put like that, but the reality of seeing the slide, surprisingly slim and elegant with its 60cm diameter and 3mm walls, growing beanstalk-like around Kapoor’s precariously unsymmetrical sculpture, is an undeniably thrilling and intimidating prospect.
Both Kapoor and Höller say they are expecting people to criticise the artwork for being an 'attraction'. They make no secret of the fact that the idea of turning Kapoor’s sculpture and viewing deck into a crowd-pleasing pull was the Mayor of London’s idea. When asked about his inspiration for the artwork, Kapoor replies : 'Boris Johnson – how can I put it – foisted this on the project, and kind of insisted.'
'No artists ever made a fortune from a public sculpture, I can assure you. Isn’t that true?' says Kapoor turning to Höller, who smiles conspiratorially.
'We’re holding out hope for the future.'
Last year, the Belgian artist accepted an invitation by Kapoor to wrap a corkscrew slide around the Orbit (an embellishment ’foisted’, it would seem, by London Mayor Boris Johnson)
Höller accepted, and in June the spindly steel-framed red scribble in the sky over East London will become the world’s longest, tallest, twistiest slide
Höller wanted to show that you don’t necessarily get to know a sculpture better by literally travelling through it; that once inside it begins to look like something else entirely
INFORMATION
The Slide will open 24 June. For more information, visit the ArcelorMittal Orbit website
Photography courtesy ArcelorMittal Orbit
ADDRESS
ArcelorMittal Orbit
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
London, E20 2ST
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
-
Sabato De Sarno’s tenure at Gucci begins with a debut collection of real clothes
Italian designer Sabato De Sarno presented his debut collection for Gucci at the house’s Milan hub, which was inspired by what the Italian designer called ‘the joy of life’
By Jack Moss Published
-
'Emerging Ecologies' at MoMA explores the history of the 'green’ movement
'Emerging Ecologies' opens at MoMA in New York, curated by Ambasz Institute director Carson Chan and seeking the meaning of building 'green'
By Beatrice Galilee Published
-
Tiwa Select opens permanent Tribeca home with a show of new works in Murano glass
Tiwa Select celebrates its permanent New York gallery space with an exhibition of new works by Dana Arbib (until 17 October 2023)
By Pei-Ru Keh Published
-
Will this UK company secure the future of classic cars?
Everrati, a specialist UK engineering firm hailing from the rolling hills of the Cotswolds in the UK, thinks it holds the key to classic car electrification
By Jonathan Bell Last updated
-
Introducing the MC20 – the new Maserati super sports car
We spoke to Klaus Busse, the man who heads up FCA’s design team, overseeing Fiat, Abarth, Lancia, and Alfa Romeo, as well as Maserati, about the origins and aspirations for the company’s new super car model
By Jonathan Bell Last updated
-
NAIC's architectural facility in England’s car-making heartland
Designed by Cullinan Studio, the centre sits at the entrance to the University of Warwick campus
By Guy Bird Last updated
-
Striking footbridge reconnects Tintagel Castle to the Cornish cliffs
Separated over 500 years ago by a dramatic gorge, Tintagel Castle has been reconnected to the mainland with a red steel footbridge. Paved with slate and quartzite tiles, it slices through the Cornish coastal landscape, unexpectedly – yet successfully – connecting history and legend to the present
By Giovanna Dunmall Last updated
-
Brutalist icon Preston Bus Station gets facelift by John Puttick Associates
By Ellie Stathaki Last updated
-
The fastest electric bike on earth is a tech toy for thrill-seekers
By Simon Mills Last updated
-
Ocean Liners at the V&A Museum explores the history of transatlantic seafaring design
By Jonathan Bell Last updated
-
The Volvo Cross Country V90 puts driver engagement front and centre
By Rory FH Smith Last updated