Object, 110 x 180 x 180 cm, 2 x (150 cm), 150 x 150 cm.

Collection: Collection BNP Paribas Fortis/Long-term loan to M HKA, Antwerp (Inv. no. BRP01).

'Thanks to the plumbiet, vikings could navigate...' - Panamarenko

The installation Big Plumbite is a magnetic rotor consisting of four red drums, each of which has sixty rectangular magnets fixed round the outside. The drums are supported by two longitudinal shafts perpendicular to each other. The
10,000-volt plumbite motors rotate the synchronized magnetic cylinder mechanism, generating powerful magnetic forces in the field above the machine, in which metal discs and flying saucers can hover. The title of the installation refers to the naturally magnetic lead ore ‘plumbite’.