New Release Steve McQueen: bass
Published by Laurenz Foundation, Schaulager Basel and Dia Art Foundation
Design: Irma Boom, Amsterdam
With an introduction by Donna De Salvo and contributions by Robert Fink, Paul Gilroy, Tsitsi Ella Jaji, John Keene, Katherine McKittrick, and Christina Sharpe
Monolingual edition (English)
60 double-page color photographs and 66 reference illustrations (color and b/w)
Flatbook, 200 pages, 31.5 x 23 x 3.5 cm
ISBN: 978-0-944521-20-5
Steve McQueen: Bass is an artist's book, exhibition catalogue, and reader all in one. It is the companion book to the commissioned work Bass (2024) by renowned filmmaker and artist Steve McQueen, initiated jointly by the Laurenz Foundation, Schaulager Basel and Dia Art Foundation. The publication was developed by the Schaulager team in close collaboration with Dia, Dutch book designer Irma Boom and the artist.
The publication opens with a stunning series of 30 double-page photographs—the first third of the book in terms of volume—that vividly capture the color-saturated atmosphere of the intrinsically immaterial and fleeting installation Bass, and transfer its mood and vibrations to the pages of the book. In the middle third of the book, there are five essays by leading experts in musicology, African American cultural studies, and Black studies. Even before the completion of the work, Robert Fink, Paul Gilroy, Tsitsi Ella Jaji, Katherine McKittrick, and Christina Sharpe drew inspiration from Bass to explore the history of bass music and the role of music in the Black diaspora, addressing questions of representation and visibility of Black culture and the concept of the Black Atlantic. Additionally, the book includes a creative reflection by the poet John Keene. An introduction by Donna De Salvo, Senior Adjunct Curator of Special Projects at the Dia Art Foundation, completes the text section.
In addition to the kaleidoscopic images in the front part, the book contains installation photographs in the final third that document the subtle color changes of the work, which consists solely of light, color, and sound. The book concludes with striking photographs of the creation process of the sound component, composed entirely of bass instruments. These snapshots of the recording session capture musicians Marcus Miller, Meshell Ndegeocello, Aston Barrett Jr., Mamadou Kouyaté, and Laura-Simone Martin as they, under the direction of Miller and McQueen, record the sound for the site-specific installation in the basement of Dia Beacon.
Bass was first exhibited from May 2024 to April 2025 in the 30,000 square meter lower-level gallery of the Dia Art Foundation in Beacon, and is McQueen's most abstract work to date. Using the elements of light, color, and sound, the artist transforms the vast space into an immersive environment: Slowly and almost imperceptibly, the light in the hall moves through the entire visible color spectrum, cycling from red through orange, yellow, and green to blue, while the sound component reverberates off the walls. Bass will be on view at Schaulager starting in the summer of 2025.
Bass wird vom Mai 2024 bis April 2025 erstmals im 30.000 Quadratmeter großen Ausstellungsraum im Untergeschoss der Dia Art Foundation in Beacon präsentiert und ist McQueens bisher abstraktestes Werk. Mittels der Elemente Licht, Farbe und Ton verwandelt der Künstler den beeindruckenden Raum in eine immersive Umgebung: Langsam und fast unmerklich durchläuft das Licht in der Halle das gesamte sichtbare Farbspektrum im Zyklus von Rot über Orange, Gelb und Grün bis Blau, während die Klangkomponente von den Wänden widerhallt. Bass wird ab Sommer 2025 im Schaulager zu erleben sein.