Contemporary Artists Lecture Series: Roman Signer

Roman Signer experiments with everyday objects like chairs, canoes, tables, tents or remote-controlled helicopters and relates them to earth, wind, gunpowder, fire, and water in unexpected ways. What is true for chemistry and physics is also true for Signer’s practice: that from the combination of basic elements something completely new can emerge and that every action has a reaction. All of his sculptures and films are thoughtfully conceived works of art, but they are also radical experiments the outcome of which we (and the artist) can only guess at before they have come to an end. Rarely seen in the United States, Roman Signer is thought by many to be Switzerland’s most important artist and undoubtedly one of the major figures in international contemporary art since the early 1970s. The artist will present a selection of his films, with commentary.