The Hamburger Kunsthalle presents Roman Signer Exploring Time in Relation to the Moving Image |
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| Written by rubin |
| Sunday, 07 June 2009 03:17 |
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Signer stages his sculptural “events” in collusion with and pitted against gravity. The sites where they occur are indeterminate: they could just as well be indoor contexts as outdoor landscapes like the banks of a river, a mountain, a forest, the entrance barrier of a car park or an old industrial chimney stack. The artist’s sculptural imagination combines them into an equally simple and expressive form, which is then documented on film. He also frequently works with concrete objects, setting them in motion and employing compelling poetic language to devise his sculptural designs and technical constructions. Signer became known for his works involving explosives. He uses detonations to temporarily suspend the inertia of things: chairs learn how to fly; water spouts out of a pair of gumboots; a streamer tied to a rocket meditatively draws a long line across the blue sky. Certain means of transport – the bicycle, the kayak and the model helicopter – are recurrent motifs in his sculptural oeuvre, which spans more than thirty years. He considers these objects as sculptures and at the same time invests them with a functional role.  For all their spectacular effects, his works also have a subtly humorous
and detachedly tranquil side. A key dimension of his events is the period of
their preparation and the hiatus of waiting for the decisive moment, joined with
the wish to understand them. Such events are developed for the purpose of their
observation. We grasp them intuitively and, in laughter, through the physical
experience of the intellect. Natural forces such as water, wind, river currents
or light are visualized in a sensuous and tangible form. Signer uses these
objects and physical phenomena to create tragicomic images that address
fundamental moments of the human condition such as suffering, innocence,
injustice, shock or amazement. Roman Signer (born in 1938 in Appenzell, Switzerland; currently lives in St. Gallen) has created an extensive and varied oeuvre comprising sculptural works, photography and drawings. Besides his works in public spaces, Signer has also been hosted in numerous exhibitions – e.g. in 1981 in the Kunsthaus Zürich, in 1988 in the Kunsthalle St. Gallen, in 1993/94 in the Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, in 1999 at the Venice Biennale, in 2000/01 in the Bonnefantenmuseum in Maastricht, in 2003 in the Collection Hauser & Wirth in St. Gallen, in 2005 in the OK Center for Contemporary Art in Linz, in 2006 in the Centro Gallego de Arte Contemporánea in Santiago de Compostela, in 2007/08 in the Fruitmarket Gallery in Edinburgh and in 2008 in the Rochester Art Center. Signer’s most recent video works were created in collaboration with Aufdi Aufdermauer. The 33 projections being shown by the Hamburger Kunsthalle will be presented in specially constructed spaces on the basement floor of the Galerie der Gegenwart. These are joined by two monitor installations, one sculpture, an action and a kinetic installation in the atrium of the Galerie der Gegenwart. The title of the exhibition, “Projections”, reflects the character of these works as visionary and prospective drafts. Visit the Hamburger Kunsthalle at : http://www.hamburger- Click on logo below to add this article to your favorite Social Website ~ |
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