Oct 9, 2006, 15:04 GMT
London - German conceptual artist Carsten Hoeller Monday opened his 'playground' installation of five giant slides in the outsize turbine hall of London's Tate Modern art gallery - and invited visitors to have a go.
A new installation at the Tate Modern Gallery in London 09 October 2006, by German artist Carsten Holler called 'Test Site'. The installation is made up from five different slide chutes which can be used by members of the public. The longest chute is 55.5 metres and reaches from the roof of the turbine hall to ground level. EPA/Lindsey Parnaby
The longest slide has a run of 55.5 metres in length, and drops from the fifth floor of the former power station on the banks of the Thames river.
The Tate Modern, Britain's most popular art gallery, has presented a series of spectacular installations in its huge entrance hall in the past, including a giant red trumpet sculpture by Indian-born British artist Anish Kapoor.
Hoeller, 44, wants slides to be taken seriously as a means of transport. He says they can help combat stress and can alleviate depression and mental health problems.
He described going down one as 'almost like being under the influence of a drug.'
Hoeller came to prominence in the early 1990s with an exhibition of devices for catching and killing children, which included a swing fixed to the roof edge of a high-rise building.
Hoeller said Monday the inspiration for the slides came from his childhood.
Every day on his way to school, he walked past an old people's home which had a fire escape slide outside.
'The slide should be a more banal means of transportation, not necessarily linked to children or some kind of emergency. It should be used every day to get from one point to another.'
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