DAY by Carsten Höller at MAAT

DAY
Carsten Höller

This monographic exhibition – DAY by Carsten Höller – brings together a vast array of works producing light and darkness, ranging from sculptures with lamps to projections and architecture dating from 1987, when Höller was working as a scientist, until today.

Almost twenty pieces, many especially recreated for this show, unfold across the entire museum in arranged Parcours that enters in dialogue with its unique spatial character of organic curvatures, narrowed thresholds, and differently sized and lit volumes. Devoid of any support structure, nor using any of the museum’s inbuilt lighting system, the space is solely illuminated by the works themselves leading audiences through multi-sensorial experiences of altered perception.

Extending outside-in, the exhibition features Light Wall, erected outdoor. Close to the museum’s entrance, it greets both visitors and passers-by with an array of light bulbs flickering at a mesmerizing frequency of 7.8 Hz. Lisbon Dots, presented here for the very first time. Installed in the large oval room in the centre of the museum, is an interactive installation made of 20 spotlight projectors that follow visitors’ movements and allow them to play a game with each other. Thanks to a collaboration with Acute Art, the cutting-edge producer of augmented, virtual and mixed reality artworks, directed and curated by Daniel Birnbaum, the exhibition expands also into the digital dimension with a special app debuting in Lisbon.

Also presented here is the iconic work Two Roaming Beds (2015) – visitors will have the unique opportunity to spend a night inside the museum where everything on display can be experienced in privacy. The beds will move at random and leave a trace of the sleepers’ nightly roam in the form of a brightly coloured line on the floor, which will all add up over time to create a gigantic drawing.