Roman Signer

Comunicato stampa

In my work, something is always going to happen, is happening or has happened. Or could happen,’ says Roman Signer.

To Signer, the essence of sculpture is not static. His “time sculptures”, or “short time sculptures” come into being during actions that expose an everyday material or situation to a natural force like water, wind, fire, or gravity.

At settantaventidue, several works from Signer’s oeuvre will be exhibited.

Signer lets intense releases of energy act upon ordinary objects, creating alternative possibilities. A table's solid legs are made for standing, but in his oeuvre Signer has subjected tables to various actions – setting one adrift on the sea, or engineering a table soar high with balloons. The idea evolved to Flying Table (2009), concocted with his friend Armin Caspari, in which a table was equipped with engines and rotors from a quadcopter, allowing it to hover calmly at 20 metres from the ground, before landing safely.

Kayaks are also a recurring motif. Signer has used the boat both as a sculptural form and a method of unconventional travel in an ongoing series of kayak works dating back to the 1980s. Kayak (1993) was first exhibited outdoors at the art museum in his hometown Sankt-Gallen, lying underwater in a big trough of galvanised steel. “The kayak doesn’t have a practical use or meaning anymore,” the artist commented on his practice, “It enters a poetic space and finds its place there.”

Signer has documented many of his actions not only in objects, photographs and drawings, but also in Super 8 films. At settantaventidue, the Super-8 films made from 1975 to 2001 will be projected in a blue Piaggio Ape — the iconic three-wheeled vehicle frequently used by Signer in his kinetic sculptures. The screening will run in a loop, allowing visitors to fully, entirely immerse themselves in this singular artist’s visionary practise.

An Paenhuysen

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Roman Signer will be present at the opening of the exhibition and will meet the public

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The exhibition is curated by An Paenhuysen in close coordination with the Artist

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The exhibition was made possible thanks to the generous support of Pro Helvetia