Art Basel 2021
Presented during Art Basel 2021, S01E08 Exposure is a site-specific art installation developed for the Meriansaal at Brasserie Spitz. Together with artist Urs August Steiner, KOHLERSTRAUMANN transformed one of Basel’s most historic social spaces into an installation engaging architecture, materiality, and memory.
Material memory
The installation responds directly to the building’s layered history while continuing Steiner’s long-term investigation into transience and the human desire for permanence. Through cyanotype, a historic photographic printing process, it establishes a material connection to the site. The pigment substrate was derived from the last exposed original sandstone wall in the building’s 19th-century basement, anchoring the work physically and conceptually to the location.
Atmospheric field
Oversized blue fabric panels span 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. Under modified lighting, Meriansaal becomes an immersive atmosphere that oscillates between historical reference and speculative projection.
S01E08 Exposure forms part of Steiner’s ongoing project Non Crystal, which explores transience, infinity, and remembrance.
Key Figures
Typology: Exhibition – Urs August Steiner S01E08 Exposure
Year: 2021
Status: Completed
Location: Meriansaal, Brasserie Spitz, Basel, Switzerland
Client: Untitled Basel
Project Team: KohlerStraumann
