Carsten Höller was bored. In Marseille in 1992, at an excruciatingly dull dinner after an exhibition opening, the great German artist decided that the only way to get through proceedings was to make a game out of them.
And so, without the other guests at the table knowing, for the rest of the evening Höller and two friends who were in on the trick only spoke in interrogative sentences, answering each question they were asked with another question. This tactic was so successful that it not only got Höller through the night, it led to the creation six years later of Carsten Höller’s Spiele-Buch – a collection of often surreal games requiring no dice, paper or ball, to be played in everyday situations, devised by Höller with photographs by him and other artists. Now Taschen are publishing Book of Games, an expanded edition that includes all the games from the first edition along with more than 100 new ones.
Game 2.17, titled “Nuisance”, is typical of how Höller seeks to break through convention to keep us amused and alert. Next to a wonderful 1941 photo by Julian P Graham of Salvador Dalí staring at fashion designer Gloria Vanderbilt, the accompanying text reads: “As you are talking to someone, edge so uncomfortably close to him that, without realising it, he steps away from you. Follow him, and keep it up.”
Try this, and Höller’s other disruptive, dreamlike games around the table this Christmas. Guaranteed to shake things up and be more entertaining than discussing Trump and Brexit.
“The players (at least two, but more is better) hold hands to form a closed chain and then deliberately get all tangled up with each other – never letting go. They clamber over and under each other, through arms and between legs. The Knot Mother comes and tries to untangle the knot without separating their hands.”
Photography: Wolfgang Tillmans, 1995
“When you’re a passenger in a car, shout ‘Bang!’ whenever the driver reverses or pulls into a parking space. Invariably startling, time after time – even if it’s the same driver.”
Photography: Elisabeth Toll, 2022
“Mid-conversation, interject ‘But that’s dangerous!’ or other stock phrases as frequently as possible. Steer the conversation so that you can repeat these same words time and again without seeming too odd, childish, or paranoid. Another example: Exclaiming ‘I thought you’d say that!’ completely puts other people off their game.”
Photography: Nan Goldin, Joey as Marilyn,
St Moritz Hotel, NYC, 2006
“When a complete stranger asks you for the time or, as sometimes happens, tries to strike up a friendly conversation, begin to exactly copy their words, tone of voice, and movements. The stranger should feel as if she has a split personality, as if she is looking into a mirror at a reflection of someone else.”
Photography: Rineke Dijkstra, 2020
“Without touching each other, make your shadows interact in sexual positions.”
Photography: Marianne Marić, 2022
Carsten Höller’s Book of Games is published by Taschen, £40
