Roman Signer - Contemporary Artists Author:Gerhard Mack, Paula van den Bosch, Jeremy Millar The futility of all human endeavor is strikingly expressed in Swiss artist Roman Signer's work. Since 1975 he has been creating sculptures, installations, photo sequences and short Super-8 films in which, according to critic Chris Fite-Wassila, he playfully misuses objects and, "sets them afloat in a sea of new possible functions. Like the gleef... more »ul child of a clockmaker and a mad scientist, Signer conducts experiments that have a calculated start but an undetermined end point, giving them an elemental, organic quality--as if the unexpected will occur at any moment." Since 1975, Signer has been creating "action sculptures" that involve setting up, carrying out and recording experiments or events--often explosions, collisions or the projection of objects through space. Signer puts a humorous twist on the traditional scientific method, taking on its supposed veracity as an artistic challenge, all the while adopting a deadpan pose that has earned him the moniker "the Buster Keaton of art." This volume compiles Signer's non-explosive Street Pictures photographs, which depict enigmatic roadside tableaux which were made in Ukraine on the latest of his many journeys.« less