The exhibitions Urgent Conversations: Athens–Antwerp and Urgent Conversations: Antwerp – Athens are a collaboration between EMST and M HKA, a theoretical and visual dialogue, based on works from the collections of both museums, which includes more than 70 works structured in 22 topics.   

28.04.2017 - 07.01.2018        

M HKA, Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen - Leuvenstraat 32, 2000 Antwerpen

EMST, National Museum of Contemporary Art - Kallirrois Avenue & Amvr. Frantzi Str., Athens 11743

Panamarenko

(c)image: M HKA
Magnetische velden [Magnetic Fields], 1979
Object , 109.8 x 76 x 77 cm
table, capacitors, copper coils, metal disc with honeycomb motif

To prepare for his construction of a large magnetic interstellar spaceship, Panamarenko began a quest in the mid-1970s for energy sources powerful enough to carry a flying saucer out of the Earth’s atmosphere and beyond the pull of gravity. A 1979 experiment, which he called Magnetic Fields, suggested that an electromagnetic drive offered the greatest chance of success. He built a first prototype in 1979 on a wooden table fitted with capacitors and copper
coils. To increase his understanding of how magnetic fields and other interplanetary forces operate, he threw himself into ufology and the study of electromagnetism, which resulted in the project Journey to the Stars, under which heading he conceived and designed numerous hovering and flying saucers. In this way, he gradually developed the overall theory he called his ‘Toy Model of Space’.