Roman Signer - Projektionen

Critic Gregory Volk has written, "If you wanted to make a list of major contemporary artists who, for whatever reason, are comparatively little known in the U.S., Roman Signer should be right near the top." "Projections," which brings together 33 years of video and Super-8 film stills with a comprehensive catalogue raisonne, helps give the Swiss artist's oeuvre the state side exposure it deserves. The footage documents key moments in the artist's precisely choreographed performances. Signer is known for his poetic hijinks and dramatic experiments with fire, water and air; in 2000, he rode a kayak--towed behind a van--down a road at 20 miles per hour until a hole had worn through the bottom. Seeking out those moments of transition--where materials transform and time seems to accelerate or drag--Signer, through his experimental play with the principles of physics and chemistry, has created an unparalleled body of work that primarily exists as documents of nonreproducible actions.