PRISTINE
In Pristine, Bass challenges the privilege whiteness affords by reversing normal hierarchies of labor, race and class. Bass placed advertisements for an assistant who must be “white, pretty and petite.” During the performance, the new assistant-for-a-day carefully sorted through piles of marble rocks for several hours in search of the whitest, most pristine specimen while Bass indulged in leisurely activities such as a mani-pedi and “liquid lunch,” in between checking the assistant’s progress. The artist approved the final chosen specimen, which was displayed in an elegant ebony wood and glass vitrine.