Carsten Höller (born December 1961 in Brussels, Belgium) is a contemporary visual artist of German parentage, currently living and working between Stockholm, Sweden, and Biriwa, Ghana. Although he is not primarily known as a photographer, Höller trained as a scientist and holds a PhD in agricultural sciences—a background that pervades his conceptual approach to art. His practice spans sculpture, installation, and participatory environments, and the circulating photographic images of these works shape much of his public reputation.

Höller’s signature visual language is both rigorously minimal and carnivalesque. He is best known for large spiral slides installed inside museums and public sites, merging scientific experiments on perception and psychology with the bodily immediacy of entertainment. His installations often provoke vertigo, disorientation, or unusual sensory states, positioning the viewer as an active co-author of the artwork. Unlike relational artists who prioritise social encounter, Höller concentrates on physical and neurological effects, designing situations that feel both controlled and open-ended.

His institutional presence spans Gagosian, Galleria Continua, Massimo De Carlo, ShugoArts, among others, and he has featured in initiatives such as Riyadh Art. The work has been shown across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, its carnival-like forms frequently drawing large audiences. Photography enters this practice in two ways: as documentation of ephemeral installations, and as a conceptual tool—for instance, in studies of vision and doubling. Yet he is not a conventional lens-based maker; the camera serves a supporting role in a broader choreography of space and bodies.

Because his productions are large, site-specific, and often temporary, printed matter becomes an essential portable record. Exhibition catalogues and artist books are designed to convey scale and movement through generous plates, fold-outs and technical drawings, though no canonical Höller photobook has been identified in the available sources. Collectors interested in his visual universe might accordingly start with catalogues from his solo exhibitions, which frequently include installation photographs, drawings, and scientific notes that illuminate his methodology.

Historically, Höller belongs to the generation of artists who turned exhibition-making into experiential experimentation. His work has been both celebrated for imagination and criticised for blurring art and amusement park spectacle. Nevertheless, his sustained international career demonstrates a durable influence on how participatory installation is conceptualised and documented. For photobook and catalogue collectors, his output offers a distinctive case study in translating immersive, body-based art into a two-dimensional object—one that must somehow arrest a moment of falling, spinning, and sensory doubt.

〔PBL-BIO/2〕

Carsten Höller is a Belgian artist born in Brussels in 1961. He studied agricultural sciences and later developed an interdisciplinary practice that combines scientific inquiry with playful, interactive installations. His works, which often involve viewer participation, have been shown in major museums and exhibitions worldwide. His use of photography is often part of larger installations or series, documenting his suspended reality.