ROMAN SIGNER

Although Roman Signer identifies himself as a sculptor, he is best known for actions in which simple materials (rockets, balloons, rushing water) react with natural forces to yield surprisingly lyrical results. Part mad scientist, part sorcerer's apprentice, part Buster Keaton, Signer often appears in these actions, sometimes at considerable risk to himself. The real star of his works, however, is time. In works such as Sandbag with Timed Detonator (1988), an auto-destructive device featuring a plastic alarm clock that releases a heavy sandbag hanging above it, two periods of tranquil rest are bridged by an instant of sudden violence. In others the change is more gradual, as in Action with a Fuse (1989), a twenty kilometre, thirty-five day 'time sculpture' in which two hundred lengths of fuse burned a path to Signer's current hometown from the village of his youth" "In the Interview, Paula Van Den Bosch speaks to the artist about the origins of his interest in art and explosives. Gerhard Mack's Survey traces the key themes in a career that spans four decades, from the artist's early experiments with elemental materials to his large-scale explosive actions. In the Focus, Jeremy Millar visits the artist in Switzerland to retrace the path of the epic 1989 Action with a Fuse.