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Item: IJsvogel
2004
Object, 260 x 900 x 400 cm.
Materials: PVC, aluminum, iron, tape, nylon
Collection: Courtesy Deweer Gallery, Otegem, Belgium.
Panamarenko’s constructions are deceptively simple. Although his aircraft often lack more essential elements than they possess, the few features they do display are more than enough to create a sense of airworthiness and efficiency.
This is especially so in the case of the elegant Kingfisher – a gossamer-light aircraft made of transparent Plexiglas, with little flappers at the tip of each wing, marked with a small red cross. The design might be too fragile ever to take to the
sky, but Panamarenko ascribes special properties to it.
‘This work is pure entertainment. There’s no need for any stupid artistic pronouncements. It’s entertaining, but ultimately it has depth, because it says something to me, because it speaks. Because there’s more to it than just a toy; because it has a kind of power, an energy. And when that happens, I put it on display.’ - Panamarenko
