I would describe the 64-year-old Swiss man behind the current show at Ginza's Shiseido Gallery as part conceptual artist, part performance artist, and part video artist -- but Roman Signer would have none of these labels. He considers himself a sculptor -- pure, if not so simple.
Signer, a contemporary art veteran, has brought six works (five from 2000-2003, one from 1986) to the Shiseido. The first piece visitors encounter, positioned on a landing on the stairway that leads to the basement-level gallery, is "Helicopter With Ventilator" (2002). This is a tidy little "sculpture" comprising a tall, heavy-duty electric fan -- the sort you might find in a restaurant kitchen -- and a scale model of a helicopter, one of those gasoline-powered, radio-controlled models favored by both serious children and adult hobbyists. The helicopter is mounted on the wall directly in front of the fan, which blows its rotor round and round.
And that's it. Now, if this doesn't move you, dear gallerygoer, then you'd best retreat right back up to the street, because what Signer has waiting for you further downstairs is more of the same.