Red-tinted soft polyurethane, blue glass eyes, giraffe tail hair
35 x 110 x 50 cm
Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary Collection


Originally trained as a scientist, Carsten Höller is frequently inspired by research and experiments from scientific history and deploys these studies in works that alter the audience’s physical and psychological sensations, inspiring doubt and uncertainty about the world around them. His work often draws on social spaces outside of the museum such as the amusement park, zoo, or playground, but the experiences they provide are always far from our usual expectations of these activities. Höller’s art takes the form of proposals for radical, new ways of living by creating sculptures and diagrams for visionary architecture as well as transportation alternatives, such as his renowned slide installations. These concepts may seem impossible in the present day, but suggest new models for the future. With Red Walrus (2011), he adds another figure to the series that reproduces young animals using lifelike pliable rubber and human glass eyes, once again disorienting the viewer.


*1961 in Brussels, Belgium I Living and working in Stockholm, Sweden