Body of Work, Roman Signer's photography

Roman Signer Body of Work

Läuten auf dem Fluss (Ringing on the river), River Widawka, Poland, 1986

Tropfen (Drops), Studio Mühlentreppe, St. Gallen, Switzerland, 1986

Stiefel (Boots), Dam of the river Sitter, Appenzell, Switzerland, 1990

Calm water with glaciers coming above the level

Tisch (Table), 1994

Wasserstiefel (Water boots)

Wassersäule (Water column), 1976

Kajak (Kayak), 1988

Ski (Skis), 2000

Artist's statement

Signer is a visual artist who works in sculpture, photography, and video. Signer’s ‘action sculptures’ involve setting up, carrying out, and recording ‘experiments’ or events that bear aesthetic results. His work has been shown at numerous galleries and museums in Europe, North America and Asia over the last thirty years. For Water Boots I filled two black boots with water and put a small amount of explosive in them. This is what the water looked like when I fired them electrically. Before starting, I said to Marek, my brother-in-law, who was with me: ‘Stand in front of it and take a picture when it explodes.’ He had neither a tripod nor a motorised camera. He just stood there, pressed the release, and came up with a masterpiece.

About the photographer

Born

1938, Appenzell, Switzerland

Nationality

Swiss

Based in

St Gallen, Switzerland

About Roman Signer

Roman Signer studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw in 1971-1972. His exhibition history includes over twenty-five years of gallery and museum shows throughout Europe and the United States. His work was featured in 3th Venice Biennale (1976) and documenta 8, Kassel (1987) and in group exhibitions such as A Swiss Dialectic, Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago (1991), Voorwerk 3, Witte de With, Rotterdam (1992), Heart of Darkness, Kröller-Müller Museum, Otterlo Kunst – Stiftung Ludwig, Viennaa, and Shift, De Appel Foundation, Amsterdam (1995), Wunschmanschine Welterfindung, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, and Model Home, Clocktower (1997,) Westfälisches Landesmuseum, Münster (1997), Unfinished History, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (1998), The Sultan’s Pool, Art Focus, Jerusalem, Panorama (2000), Centraal Museum, Utrecht, and Provisorium I, Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht (1999).