Month: November 1968

Roman Signer, Kitfox Experimental, 2014. Avion, ventilateurs, câble / Plane, fans, cables. Installation view at Hangar Y, 2023. Courtesy the Artist and Art : Concept, Paris.

The inaugural exhibition is organized by Art Explora, invited by the Hangar Y as part of its sponsorship program. It pays tribute to the primary function of the place by choosing flying machines as its theme. Starting from the universal fascination of the human being for flight and the numerous inventions allowing to reach this objective, the curator of the exhibition Marie-Laure Bernadac, in collaboration with Blanche de Lestrange, focused on the way these means of elevation and transport in the air and their transformations over time have inspired artists.

Since 2008, the Fondazione Zegna has been running a project of permanent works deployed in public spaces in the Trivero region of Italy. Curated by Andrea Zegna and Barbara Casavecchia, ALL’ APERTO (“Outside”) responds to the foundation’s aim of making contemporary art more accessible to local communities and visitors.

Alongside, for example, Dan Graham and Daniel Buren, Roman Signer contributes to the edifice by erecting a giant clock (2012) opposite the main entrance to a factory. Its dial, perched on a steel base almost four meters high, has no hands. Instead, a tube noisily spits out a cloud of steam every quarter-hour.

The artist recounts that the idea came to him during a walk on a factory roof, observing the way smoke escapes from chimneys. With a light touch, he invites us to reflect on the rationalization of time. “Only human time seems to pass at a regular pace”, he says, “whereas nature and energy follow a different flow, where perpetual change is the rule”.*

*Roman Signer, Horloge (Clock), 2012, Permanent installation, fondazionezegna.org

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