Roman Signer

Born in Switzerland in 1938, Roman Signer is famous for his “explosive” performances. Since 1973, he has been conceiving a work combining sculpture, performance, photography and film archive. Fascinated by the power of nature (storm, wind, volcanos, geysers, torrents...), he keeps experimenting through actions of great force, poetical and often on the edge of danger. Using explosives, helicopters or delivery tricycles, Signer explores the fourth dimension: time. True “time-sculpture”, each work is a step of mastering and release of energy. 

His interventions, of which he sometimes keeps trace of through super-8 films or videos, are defined by an immediate and deep sense of humour, close to absurd, which he owes to a combination very delicate between human manipulation, natural elements and ordinary items. We still remember the volcano eruption provoked on an helvetian mountain, his travel in a kayak pulled by a car in a countryside road, the projection of stools through the windows of a cabin, the loopings of a roaring helicopter operated by remote control in a room above the artist, lying in bed with his beanie on his eyes…

During the whole summer of 2012, the Hangar à Bananes in Nantes hosted a large exhibition of both film archives, actual installations and works unshowed before, such as the painting explosions in a tunnel, the suspended kayak from the Titan crane on the edge of the island or even the itinerary – interrupted by umbrellas – of this superb polish car from the 1960s, the Warszawa, brought back on the road by Signer. The roadtrip was also documented and is presented in the book.