More heat than light Sam Lewitt

Minimal in form and conceptually dense, More Heat Than Light by the US-American artist Sam Lewitt (b. 1981) features numerous large-scale heating circuits inserted into Kunsthalle Basel’s overhead lighting grid. A sly intervention into the institutional infrastructure, these circuits parasitically draw from and convert the grid’s luminous output into thermal energy. Accompanied by texts, digital sensors, and a thermal camera that registers the temperature of the heaters and of visitors’ bodies, the installation stages a confrontation between flexibility and enclosure, phenomenological experience and quantifiable data. This is Lewitt’s first institutional solo show in Europe, and it is co-organized with the CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco. The exhibition is generously supported by Regent Lighting and Roldenfund.