Stefanie Hessler, director of New York's Swiss Institute, has curated the Parcours section of Art Basel for its second year, choosing the theme "Second Nature." The program, now in its 15th year, integrates site-responsive artworks into Basel's urban fabric, activating local businesses, infrastructure, and public spaces along the left bank of the Rhine. Works include Martha Atienza's three-channel video installation at a shop called Tropical Zone, Sturtevant's "Finite Infinite" (2010) under the Mittlere Brücke bridge, and a 1960s piece by Thomas Bayrle recreating a functional artist shop in a department store. Hessler selected artists whose work engages with patterns and habitual behavior, exploring how repeated gestures become ingrained customs.
This year's Parcours matters because it offers a critical counterpoint to the commercial frenzy of Art Basel, using public art to question the entanglement of art and commerce while prompting locals to re-encounter familiar urban spaces. Hessler's theme of "Second Nature" also addresses urgent issues like climate change and the impact of digital algorithms on selfhood, as seen in Atienza's work on overfishing and Sturtevant's meditation on digital repetition. By situating art outside the fair's commercial context, Parcours provides a rare opportunity for reflection on the routines and assumptions that shape both the art world and daily life.