Ensemble

As from the 1970s, Panamarenko wanted to conquer the lowermost part of the atmosphere. The building of his first airship, The Aeromodeller, in 1971, was an extension of the happenings and embodied the artist’s dream of being free at all times to move freely through the atmosphere. The Piewan (Delta Aircraft P1), equipped with twenty electric motors, was made entirely of tin sheeting. The notable thing about this device was that its fuselage was also its wing. The V1 Barada Jet is a wooden jet aircraft with short, solid wings. It has a powerful appearance and Panamarenko considered it one of his most convincing designs. The artist’s interest in animals and physics, combined with his fascination for aviation and mechanics, led to a far-reaching study of the vibration mechanism in insect wings. Such principles as resonance and vibration frequency were applied to pedal-driven light aircraft such as Umbilly I and the Great Quadru Flip-Flop. Panamarenko based his Raven’s variable matrix and Kingfisher on the flapping of birds’ wings.