出版物

This introduction of Signer’s work to China starts with an investigation of his artworks. Through this exhibition, the curatorial team hopes to share with the public Signer’s memories, that were formerly boxed up and preserved in archives and databases. Signer has never been a fan of large-scale events and artworks, and he intentionally avoids talking about himself. Indeed, at documenta 8, when he was very much in the art world limelight, he may have felt the level of attention was too much. Signer is an artist who always contemplates his relation to the world, and who always lives in self-reflection. He existed – in the sense that his artworks and their dimensions are deeply related to the world; yet he never exists – in the sense that part of his artworks are presented in real time in front of an audience. He even deliberately wipes away his own traces, or his artworks’ connections to the world, and stays apart, in an individual state of being. This kind of ‘disconnection’ does not exist as a blunt fracturing from the world. Instead, it is a process of dissolving into daily life. It is clear that Signer’s work has not changed due to shifting politics, economics, or even time. He maintains simple methods of expressing his understanding of the world, re-discovering the world through materialised forms and through experiments with the spiritual and material.

Roman Signer’s first touring exhibition to China is kindly supported by Museum of Contemporary Art of CAA, CAFA Art Museum, Art Museum of GAFA, OCT Art and Design Gallery (Shenzhen), MAN Nuoro Art Museum (Italy), Wti, and Chronus Art Center. Special thanks go to Mr. Yang Jingsong, Mr. Qiu Zhijie, Mr. Wang Huangsheng, Mr. Wang Chunchen, Mr. Hu Bin, Mr. Feng Feng, Mr. Lorenzo Giusti for their curatorial support, and Mr. Zhang Qinghong for his generous support.

The exhibition is also supported by: documenta Archiv Kassel, Helmhaus, Swiss Arts Council, Chronus Art Center, Kunstgiesserei St.Gallen etc. Generous support also comes from Corinne Schatz, David Signer, Karin Stengel, Simon Maurer, Barbara Signer, Michael Bodenmann, Uli Sigg, Josef Felix Müller, Peter Zimmermann, Reto Thüring, Rachel Withers, Max Wechsler, Geneviève Loup, Felix Lehner, and Aline Feichtinger.

Publication and copyright support come from Vexer Verlag, graphic design is provided by Yu Qiongjie with Transwhite Studio, translation and copy-editing is provided by Eva Luedi, Wang Pan, Iris Xinru Long, and Susannah Worth.

On November 3rd, Roman Signer will realize his first work of sculpture to have been produced in China – the result of a commission from Ms. Sunny Sun and LUXELAKES·A4 Art Museum, Chengdu, Sichuan.

The project’s development has been widespread, proceeding via Hangzhou, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Sardegna (Italy), and finally Chengdu, where Signer completes this unique sculptural piece.

Signer’s endeavour begins with the water cycle active around the viewers: reflecting on the ephemeral nature of time, we meet moments of uncertainty, subtlety, dynamics, and humour.

Water from the lake shall return to it, eventually.

-Li Zhenhua

 

A project founded by Li Zhenhua, Zhang Qinghong and Roman Signer in 2014.

“Good Night”, taken from Feng Li’s solo exhibition of the same name at the A4 Art Museum in 2021, is the latest artist book published by A4 in 2024. It contains 170 photographs taken by Feng Li from 2005 to the present day, as well as a newspaper-style guidebook and a conversation booklet. The book aims to show readers the evolution of Feng Li’s photography style over the past decade, particularly focusing on his “White Night” series, and to present a more intriguing and multi-dimensional perspective of Feng Li as an artist.

「The Depth of Light」 is the catalog of the inaugural exhibition at the newly opened A4 Art Museum in 2023. It features articles written by the curator Fumio Nanjo, Sunny Sun, and the artists themselves, providing readers with an in-depth introduction to the exhibition. The catalog also includes high-resolution images of the exhibited works and detailed descriptions, showcasing the most significant series of works created by the artists, such as “Liminal Air,” “Gravity and Grace,” “Echoes – Infinity,” and “Flotage,” among others. Through the exploration of “light,” the catalog presents Dai Guangxian’s endeavor to investigate various forms of existence and their intrinsic connections.

From 2022 to 2023, A4 Art Museum and Dabian Drum jointly curated a series of interviews with 13 child workers, resulting in 12 articles. This book aims to delve into the fundamentals of child work through questioning, ultimately sparking discussions and reflections on contemporary child work practices. Using the A4 Art Museum’s iSTART Children’s Art Festival as a case study, the book explores how to authentically connect with the experiences of children. By starting from concrete child work practices, we aim to observe and reflect without confining ourselves to adult-centric experiences or seeking temporary authority to satisfy our control desires.

“do it” was an art project initiated by the renowned curator Hans Ulrich Obrist in 1993. The project invited anyone, anywhere to create an artwork based on do-it-yourself instructions shared by artists, musicians, and designers. In 2020, “do it” landed in a public art museum in China for the first time at A4 Art Museum in Chengdu. “do it in Chengdu” documents how over 1000 collaborative artists at A4 Art Museum in Chengdu interpreted 26 “do it” instructions through communication, negotiation, and teamwork, accompanied by four in-depth articles about “do it.” A4 Art Museum aims to continue spreading the spirit of “do it” through this book – open to everyone, expanding our perspectives through doing, and demystifying the process of art creation.

The book “Tangpu in Shu” departs from Liao Mingming’s residency experience in Chengdu in 2020. In comparison to the exhibition, “Tangpu in Shu” delves into multiple dimensions, narrating the artist’s reflections during the residency on topics such as exhibitions, landscapes, travels, painting, collecting, cuisine, tea culture, and incense art. Upon flipping through its pages, mountains, rocks, and waterbodies leisurely manifest on paper, allowing readers to virtually visit the timeless Tangpu cabin. The depicted past intertwines with the unfolding present, collectively constructing the landscapes in our minds.

This book is based on the exhibition “From the Streets to Language: Southwest Performance Art Since 2008,” held at the A4 Art Museum from November 2019 to February 2020. It explores the diversity of the art ecology in China’s southwestern region from the perspective of performance art. The book provides an overview and analysis of the performance art ecology in the southwestern region since the 1970s and 1980s, summarizing its development and evolution.