Panamarenko

An artist, an inventor and a visionary, Panamarenko has conducted an exceptional long-term research on concepts such as space, movement, flying, energy and gravity. His work is a combination of an artistic insight and a technological experimentation.
As an introduction to his practice M HKA has mapped out almost his entire oeuvre in a chronologically and thematicly structured digital platform. M HKA would like to share the gathered information further with the public. Welcome to the digital archive!

Panamarenko

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Pastille Motor n°5, 1987

Collection Galerie Ronny Van De Velde, Antwerp

Panamarenko

Object , 137 x 40 x 40 cm, 200 x 200 x 300 cm

aluminium, metal, plastic, bakelite

Aluminium ignition engine and a flywheel of bakelite, mounted on a work table, presented in an iron cage with toolboxes tank.

The pastille motor is the drive mechanism for several rucksack flying machines that Panamarenko developed at the Furka Pass in Switzerland from the late 1980s. To suppress the sound of the engines, Panamarenko mounted them in a rucksack, or at least made a housing for them that could be carried on the back. The pastille motor rucksacks do not
have rotor blades like his rucksack helicopters, but are driven by a flat, broad fan with floating partitions, which provide thrust. The name ‘pastille motor’ comes from the round, flattened shape of the drive mechanism, which is reminiscent of a large pill or pastille. The engine cannot weigh more than twelve kilograms, and five kilograms of fuel must be sufficient for twenty minutes of flight. The propulsion mechanism of the rucksacks steadily evolved over the years.

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