Roman Signer, Bett. April — May, 2002.
Bett, 1996. Single channel video projection. 4'08”, looped, colour, sound.
The video Bett sees the artist laying in bed asleep; hovering, diving and swooping around him flies a remote controlled helicopter. Oblivious to its frenetic movements Signer appears to sleep untroubled. The work has the air of a troubling dream and is part of what the artist describes as "action sculptures”: quasi-experiments which incorporate collisions, collapses, explosions and the launching objects through space. The results are documented in video, photographs and material evidence. Redolent with humour and pathos these essentially sculptural works are poetic vignettes on causality, the fantastical, futility and the everyday.
Roman Signer lives and works in St. Gallen, Switzerland. Signer has had solo exhibitions at numerous significant museums around the world such as: Kunsthaus Zug, Switzerland (2009); Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin (2007): Galician Centre of Contemporary Art, Santiago de Compostela, Spain (2006); and Bonnefantenmuseum, Maastricht, Netherlands (1999). In 1999 he represented Switzerland at the 48th Venice Biennale, Italy. He has also exhibited in a number of group exhibitions including: Ne pas jouer avec des choses mortes, Villa Arson, Nice, France (2008); Eye on Europe MoMA, New York, USA (2006); and Skulptur Projekte Münster, Germany (1997). Roman Signer is represented by Hauser & Wirth
