ART BASEL 2021
Artinstallation · Basel (Switzerland) · Built
Key figures
Urs August Steiner S01E08 Exposure
year. 2021
Location. Meriansaal, Brasserie Spitz, Basel, Switzerland
Status. Buit
Client. Untitled Basel
Project description
S01E08 Exposure is a site-specific art installation developed for the Meriansaal at Brasserie Spitz and presented during Art Basel 2021.
Together with the artist Urs August Steiner, KOHLERSTRAUMANN transformed one of Basel’s most historic social spaces into a spatial installation engaging architecture, materiality, and memory.
The work responds directly to the layered history of the building while continuing Steiner’s long-term investigation into transience and the human desire for permanence.
The installation establishes a material connection to the site through the use of cyanotype, a historic photographic printing process.
The pigment substrate was derived from the last exposed original sandstone wall in the 19th-century basement of the building, anchoring the work physically and conceptually to the location.
Oversized blue fabric panels span across the space, partially obscuring the floor-to-ceiling windows, while a black-and-white checkered circular form filled with smoke occupies the center of the hall.
Modified lighting transforms the Meriansaal into an immersive, atmospheric environment that oscillates between historical reference and speculative projection.
S01E08 Exposure forms part of Steiner’s ongoing project Non Crystal, which explores themes of transience, infinity, and remembrance.
KOHLERSTRAUMANN was responsible for the spatial transformation and architectural integration of the installation, working closely with the artist to translate conceptual intent into a precise and atmospheric spatial intervention.
