false

Software, websites, and bots: meet the institution that collects them all

How HeK single-handedly turned Basel into a destination for media art

‘I’ve always been attracted to media art because it addresses the issues of our time.’&mdash; Sabine Himmelsbach, Director of HeKHeK, or, to give its full name House of Electronic Arts, has been a leading champion of digital culture since it opened in 2011. Located since 2014 in the fast-expanding area of Dreispitz – a former freeport on Basel’s outskirts, also home to the city’s art school – HeK is a reference in what has been until recently a relatively niche field: media art. Its program ranges from solo exhibitions by big-hitters such as Ryoji Ikeda and<a href="https://www.artbasel.com/catalog/artist/7344/Rafael-Lozano-Hemmer"> Rafael Lozano-Hemmer</a>, to group shows tackling urgent subjects such as big data politics and sexuality in the information age. A place for research as well as exhibition, HeK has also been a key driver in developing the thinking around the display and preservation of net-based art.During Art Basel, HeK is hosting a solo show by media art pioneer Lynn Hershman Leeson. ‘Lynn Hershman Leeson: Anti-Bodies’ presents the artist’s latest body of work, which focuses on genetic experimentation and biotechnology. It includes an actual antibody-as-artwork, a protein named after the artist and developed in collaboration with Novartis scientists.

Log in and subscribe to receive Art Basel Stories directly in your inbox.