Panamarenko

During a career spanning more than 50 years, the Belgian visionary Panamarenko – engineer, poet, artist, physicist, inventor – conducted meticulous studies of the natural world and various scientific principles. He analyzed the secrets of the universe, gravity, and other energetic mysteries, and formulated both logical and well-considered solutions. His work was poetic, the result of a seamless coalescence of artistic skill and scientific research; the outcome of which could take the form of a flying saucer, backpack helicopter, flying carpet, zeppelin, solar powered car, submarine, or prehistoric mechanical bird. Each of his spectacular constructions possessed not only a peculiar beauty and naive playfulness, but also a degree of conspicuous consideration. In 2001, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Ghent held a retrospective of Panamarenko’s work, for which the artist designed and wrote this oversized catalog – a work of art in its own right.