The Swiss Institute is showing works by Roman Signer - who's water explosions in boots (Water Boots, 1986) might be familiar - in all four areas of the space till November 13th.
Exhibiting mainly videos, the central room offers 'art installed' seating - wooden chairs including a mechanically rocking one - to look at an assortment of videos from his past pieces. In the back room three of his films are projected, including wonderful Iceland (2008) - two ducktaped black umbrellas stumbling, pulling, flying, thrusting each other together through the country's windy grey steppe landscapes. The umbrellas' violent yet stunning dance seems to soften Sartre's "l'enfer c'est l'autre" statement, by suggesting the beauty this hell implies.
My favorite piece, however, was in the first large room. Similar to the delicate irony of Céleste Boursier-Mougenot's work at the Curve with electric guitars and birds, for Piano (2010) Signer placed ping-pong balls on a grand piano's cords. Framing the instrument with two large fans, their wind-power sway the balls randomly to create subtle and unpredictable sounds. The piece is suggestive, simple and deep, and questions what cultural norms and the labels we attach to them are worth.
This is a short but worthwhile retrospective of one of Switzerland's most well known contemporary artist.
