Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London is to be the site of a new collaboration between artists Anish Kapoor and Carsten Höller.
The project will see Kapoor’s 114m high sculpture The Orbit – the headline-grabbing commission that formed part of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games cultural programme – revamped to include a giant slide by the German artist best known for presenting interactive works and installations.
Höller’s retrospective exhibition Decision, currently on display at Hayward Gallery in London, has also been making headlines, in part because of his work Isomeric Slides that offers visitors the chance to exit the gallery via two giant, spiralling slides that uncoil down the side of the building. Höller presented a similar series of slides at Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall in 2006.
Speaking about the new collaboration, Höller said: “I am thrilled that my tallest slide so far will cling onto Anish Kapoor’s The Orbit, taking an existing artwork as its site. A slide is a sculptural work with a pragmatic aspect; a device for experiencing an emotional state that is a unique condition somewhere between delight and madness.”
Kapoor added: “I believe it will result in the making of a new work which will bring two works of art together in an ambitious way.”
Following the London 2012 games, Kapoor’s sculpture reopened in April 2014 as The ArcelorMittal Orbit (after the steel company that in part funded the original commission) and is now a visitor attraction enabling panoramic views across London and the home counties. The Slide is due to open to the public in spring 2016.
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