Panamarenko

'Umbilly 1' 1976

The airplanes designed by Panamarenko (1940) look as if they can take off any moment and can float away. However, many craft created by his hand cannot do so and do not need to do so.

Before actually executing a design, Panamarenko makes countless drawings and technical calculations. Whether scientists regard them as correct, is less important to him. He does not have much use for them, as becomes clear in an interview from 2001: "I don’t feel like bragging all of my life about Einstein, Zweistein, Dreistein and of enlarging that pack. The only useful thing is to make something that has beauty."

The 'Umbilly 1' (1967) first stands in a showcase inside the Department of Mechanical Engineering, where it triggers strong reactions. Many employees regard the 'handicraft' as an attack against engineering and technology. Subsequently the 'Umbilly 1' is accommodated in the library of the Department of Architecture, Building and Planning, where it is on display for many years before moving to floor 1 in Vertigo.

As a child Panamarenko is fascinated by V2s, which land in Antwerp instead of London. This fascination with flying will stay with him for the rest of his life. In the 1960s Panamarenko attends the Academy of Visual Arts in his native city and place of residence Antwerp. The happenings that he helps to organize later also show his ability to put things in perspective and his sense of humor: he is a millionaire, chauffeur or engineer-cum-builder of aircraft, and designs contraptions such as a mechanical gutter and a water zeppelin.

Panamarenko, an acronym of Pan American Airlines & Co, bases the two Umbilly's that he makes on the locomotor apparatus of insects. Technically, the 'Umbilly 1', is more sophisticated. The term is derived from 'Umbillicus' and refers to the repeated interruption of the driving mechanism in each wing beat. With this principle it is possible according to Panamarenko for the movement of the hind wing to continue even when nobody is stepping on the pedals for a bit.

All vehicles designed by Panamarenko, not only his aircraft, are based on existing principles of physics. In addition, he invents new apparatuses: the Pastille motor for rucksack flying or a spaceship designed to propel itself through magnetic power. 'The Blue Archaeopteryx' has solar cells and an electronic brain, so that this primeval bird can learn from its mistakes.

The TU/e has also been given a scale model of 'The Island', the latest and maybe last work of art by Panamarenko. It can be viewed ‘in the flesh’ in the central library or via the article that was published about it in Cursor.

Sculptures

Panamarenko