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Massive Slide Acts as Centerpiece for New Museum Exhibition

By Serena Solomon | October 26, 2011 1:39pm

MIDTOWN — Spiraling down a two-story metal slide might not be everyone’s interpretation of fine art.

But the centerpiece of the exhibition from German-born artist Carsten Höller, which opened Wednesday at the New Museum, is a 102-foot slide that ferries patrons through three floors of the Bowery building.

“What I’m doing is certainly not science, but maybe it’s not art, either; it’s something in between, a third thing,” Höller, a former scientist turned artist, told the New York Times. The artist, who studied agricultural entomology before abandoning the sciences, now works out of Stockholm.

The giant slide spirals from the fourth to second floor of the Lower East Side museum, through a hole drilled into the concrete floors, and was an ambitious project to install, said Gabriel Einsohn, the New Museum's communications director.

The installation of
The installation of "Carsten Höller: Experience" slide exhibition at the New Museum.
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New Museum

“We worked closely with the original team of architects and contractors who were the experts on the original construction of the museum,” Einsohn said in an email.

A company called Wiegand, which specializes in slide installation, was also called in to help with construction. A video and photographs demonstrate how the heavy concrete floors were cut through in order for the slide to be installed. All visitors who are taller than 4 feet are welcome to use the slide, according to Einsohn.

In another installation, called “Psycho Tank,” visitors can float weightlessly in a sensory-deprivation pool, which is designed to provide an out-of-body experience, as well take a ride on mirrored carousel.

The "Carsten Höller: Experience" runs from Oct. 26 until Jan. 15 at the New Museum, 235 Bowery between Stanton and Prince streets.