The UCCA Center for Contemporary Art has unveiled Carsten Höller: Two, a major site-specific exhibition that transforms the institution’s 1,877-square-metre Great Hall into a large-scale interactive environment. Curated by Philip Tinari and Jiashu Zou, the exhibition reimagines the museum’s factory-inspired architecture through a dual spatial concept that challenges perception, movement, and decision-making. The exhibition remains on view through January 31, 2027.
Designed as what Höller describes as a “Laboratory of Doubt,” the exhibition divides the Great Hall into two parallel, mirror-image environments. One space is presented entirely in vivid colour, while the other is rendered in black and white, encouraging visitors to experience contrasting visual realities from the moment they enter.
Interactive Installations Challenge Perception and Choice
Upon arrival, visitors are randomly assigned to one of two entrances, permanently shaping their initial journey through the exhibition. Consequently, each route offers a distinct perspective before the parallel environments eventually converge.
Among the exhibition’s highlights are two newly adapted versions of Höller’s celebrated Tilted Carousel installation. Tilted Carousel (Two Whites) and Tilted Carousel (Five Colours) stand 6.3 metres high and function as fully operational amusement rides. However, instead of conventional movement, the installations rotate slowly in opposite directions over a two-minute cycle, suspending riders until each completes a revolution.
Furthermore, the mirrored galleries reinforce Höller’s long-standing interest in uncertainty by presenting familiar experiences through contrasting visual and spatial conditions.
Time, Participation and Duality Define the Exhibition
The exhibition also juxtaposes two contrasting approaches to measuring time. The Sexagesimal Clock displays conventional time through a neon installation, while the Decimal Clock operates according to the historic ten-hour timekeeping system introduced during the French Revolution.
Meanwhile, the central gallery features Dice, an interactive marble sculpture that invites visitors to enter its hollow interior, transforming the artwork into a participatory experience. Nearby, Pill Clock continuously releases ingestible pills containing an undisclosed substance every three seconds, extending Höller’s ongoing exploration of chance, trust, and human behaviour.
Through immersive installations, architectural intervention, and audience participation, Carsten Höller: Two presents one of the artist’s most ambitious institutional exhibitions in China, inviting visitors to question perception, certainty, and the nature of individual experience.
Exhibition Information
- Exhibition: Carsten Höller: Two
- Artist: Carsten Höller
- Curators: Philip Tinari and Jiashu Zou
- Venue: UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, 4 Jiuxianqiao Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100102, China
- Dates: On view through January 31, 2027