Between Conceptual and Performance Art
Roman Signer, who lives in St. Gallen, has been regarded since the early 1970s as one of the most significant and internationally acclaimed conceptual and performance artists of the contemporary avant-garde. At the heart of his artistic intentions lies the desire to make creative processes and moments of experience visible. His work is defined primarily by the event of the action taking place and thrives on its claim to authenticity.
Water as an artistic medium
The same applies to his site- and situation-specific installation ‘Brunnenstube’, which was realised as part of the art project for the 2000 State Garden Show in the former water reservoir, built in 1903 in the Neo-Romanesque style. As an artistic medium, the element of water, in its various states and forms, dominates the Swiss artist’s work. In the cramped, windowless chamber, a jet of water falls from the ceiling onto a metal table, splashes from there onto two metal chairs and gradually floods the rest of the floor area. In the dim light, a vibrant soundscape emerges – a splashing and clattering – which, on the one hand, evokes a meditative, sacred sense of space in the viewer, whilst on the other hand, the muffled vibrations of the metal surfaces cast them into a restless mood.
Water – A Natural Substance with Symbolic Significance
This simple installation explores the workings of the forces of nature and raises the awareness of visitors directly involved in the piece to the unique visual and acoustic qualities of water, the most fundamental of all natural substances. The symbolic significance of water as the elixir of life, a purifying force and a catalyst for movement, but also as a motif of uncontrollability and dissipation, further influences the emotional context of the work’s perception. Signer’s work emphasises the mutable and the unfinished; it is characterised by the endeavour to illustrate the passage of time as a flowing continuum and a metaphorical process. On leaving the room, visitors carry with them traces of the work in the form of water splashes on their clothes and shoes. Thanks to the installation, the well chamber – which had been inaccessible to the public for almost a century – has been reopened as a venue where visitors can experience an atmospheric and sensory event.
Text and editing: Kunstmuseum Singen.
