The Polaroid Foundation announces the release of The Carsten Höller Episode of The 20x24 Project, a new 20-minute documentary following renowned artist, Carsten Höller and the world’s largest instant camera, the Polaroid 20x24, as they travel across Europe exploring the games, people and ideas behind Höller’s Book of Games (2024).
Filmed over the course of one and a half years, the documentary follows Höller and the 20x24 as they crisscross Europe, capturing people from art-world insiders and cultural figures to festival-goers, friends and fans as they play games from Book of Games. The film offers an intimate and playful portrait of Höller’s practice, while exploring the ways in which games can alter behaviour, relationships and perception.
The journey takes the Polaroid 20x24 to Venice, London, Arles and Riehen near Basel, with gameplay filmed at Palazzo Diedo Berggruen Arts & Culture, the Institute of Contemporary Arts, the Rencontres d’Arles festival of photography and the Fondation Beyeler. The film features appearances by curator Hans Ulrich Obrist, photographer Jürgen Teller, art patron Maja Hoffmann, artist and musician Casey Spooner, designer India Mahdavi and landscape designer Bas Smets. Beyond the games themselves, the documentary offers a rare glimpse into Höller’s world. In Stockholm, Höller welcomes the film crew into his kitchen and home aviary, where he keeps around 70 birds,alongside a rooftop visit to Moderna Museet and a look inside Brutalisten, his concept restaurant. The film also follows Höller and the team on a “sad bird” -watching expedition into the Camargue.
At the centre of the film is Book of Games, which provides both the structure and conceptual framework for the documentary. The games guide the interviews and interactions throughout, creating a lens through which to observe behaviour and explore Höller’s wider artistic interests. His reflections on the uses and meaning of the games reveal his fascination with removing the “middle ground” between extremes, including joy and fear.
The documentary forms part of the Polaroid Foundation’s wider collaboration with Höller around Book of Games, which has also resulted in a collection of Polaroid photographs and film material documenting the artist, his work and the people who have taken part in his games.
“I would prefer not to be in this film.”
— Carsten Höller
“Too late, Carsten.”
— Polaroid Foundation
