©image: Panamarenko Archive
“Keep the opposing poles in balance, and lift the machine!” - Panamarenko
In the 1980s and ‘90s, Panamarenko was looking for new ways to lift himself into the air (and far beyond). He was now engaged in high-altitude aviation. The 1979 experiment called Magnetische velden (Magnetic Fields) demonstrated that electromagnetic power had the greatest chance of success in propelling a flying saucer out of the earth’s atmosphere beyond the reach of gravity. Under the heading Reis naar de sterren (Journey to the Stars), he devised and designed numerous flying and hovering saucers. He accompanied the Flying Saucer installation with a typed statement of his theory of space, in which he cunningly used opposing magnetic poles to make spheres and saucers surf freely through the cosmos. In 1983, the Droma magnetic rotor led to the construction of the Grote Plumbiet. When the synchronised mechanism of the magnetic cylinders turns, powerful magnetic forces are generated in the field above the machine. Metal discs and flying saucers are able to hover in this magnetic field.
> Panamarenko, Reis naar de sterren [ Voyage to the Stars], 1979.Multiple, iron, copper, wood and electric motor, 22 x 41 x 55 cm.
> Panamarenko, Magnetische velden [Magnetic Fields], 1979.Object, table, capacitors, copper coils, metal disc with honeycomb motif, 109.8 x 76 x 77 cm.
> Panamarenko, Vliegende schotel [Flying Saucer], 1979.Object, cardboard base with two copper coils, plexiglas flying saucers with eight magnets, compass and a typed, signed and dated statement, 64.5 x 66.4 x 42.9 cm.
> Panamarenko, DROMA, 1982.Object, metal, electric motor, magnets, electric cable, 15.2 cm, 36.5 cm.
> Panamarenko, Grote Plumbiet [Big Plumbite], 1984.Object, metal plates, magnet, 110 x 180 x 180 cm, 2 x (150 cm), 150 x 150 cm.
> Panamarenko, Bing of the Ferro Lusto (model), 2002.Object, painted epoxy, 4 electric motors, presented on a wooden base, ø 110 cm.
> Panamarenko, Bing of the Ferro Lusto (model), 2002.Object, metal, painted epoxy, 4 electric motors, presented on a metal standard, 60 x 110 cm.
> Panamarenko, Bing of the Ferro Lusto (model), 2002.Object, original model in epoxy, resin, electric motor, presented on a metal base, 160 x 130 cm.
> Panamarenko, Bing II, 2003.Object, metal, balsa wood, plexiglas, 150 x 300 cm.