Belgian artist Carsten Höller has turned a contemporary art museum in Berlin into a zoo -- all in the name of artistic contemplation. He is hoping to discover the recipe of the mystic, hallucinogenic drink soma, and to entertain visitors in the process.
24 canaries, 12 reindeers, eight mice and two flies, to be exact -- are what visitors to the Hamburger Bahnhof Museum for Contemporary Art will be lining up to observe this month.
Höller's installation, named Soma is inspired by the myth of a magical drink. According to the beliefs of Vedic nomads in northern India in the second millennium BC, soma gave those who drank it special powers and brought them closer to their gods. Nobody knows what went into the drink, though some research suggests that soma may have contained fly-agaric mushrooms -- Amanita muscaria -- a poisonous, red-capped mushroom which has hallucinogenic effects.
The artist
Carsten Höller was born 1961 in Brussels and is counted among the most prominent contemporary artists. The artist, who lives in Stockholm, has presented significant work at the Documenta X (1997), the Expo in Hannover (2000) and at the Venice Biennial (2005). 2006 he installed an expansive piece in the “Turbine Hall” of the Tate Modern, which attracted worldwide attention.
"Soma" (Wikipedia) >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soma
