M HKA Ensembles

Object, 185 x 145 x 70 cm.

Collection: Private Collection.

'In fact, it was a quite simple invention, the kind you'd think someone would have already thought of, but hadn't.  That's because most of the mini-helicopters are in reality super dangerous.  They have a big rotor, but it's impossible to safely land with that.  If you lean a bit too much forward, or slant a bit, then the rotor slams into the ground.  And if you come down with that thing on your back amidst a group of people...' - Panamarenko

Panamarenko developed his first portable flying device, the Portable Air Transport, in 1969.  The idea of taking to the air via means of motor and rotor, again emerges in the 1980s with his Rucksackflug project, and produced a number of flying backpacks.  In 1994, the same theme results in the Pepto Bismo, an efficient portable flying device worn on the pilot's back.  Its name comes from the American over-the-counter remedy Pepto Bismol.  By dropping the last letter of the name, the new name leaves a lasting impression and also takes on a mythical character.

The propulsion for the Pepto Bismo is not from air-displacement via a fan, as is the case with the backpacks, but rather by a series of short rotor-propellers, each driven by its own small but powerful motor.  The helicopter principal allows the pilot to take-off vertically, controlling the apparatus by body movement.

The clothing of the Pepto Bismo comes from Panamarenko's own personal wardrobe. 

'That was a long Russian military coat, a full five centimeters thick, that I'd once bought near the Brandenburger Tor in Berlin.  Now you can't find them anymore, or else they're knock-offs...' - Panamarenko

In 2003, gallery owner Ronny Van de Velde had six bronzes made of the Pepto Bismo II.  One of them was acquired by the City of Antwerp as a public monument for the town's Sint-Jansplein, right in the middle of the working-class district where Panamarenko lived and worked for over three decades.  The statue had its public inauguration during the 'Panamarenko Summer' in 2003, when the artist was also celebrated by having simultaneous exhibitions in the Rubenshuis, the MUHKA and the Antwerpse Luchtschipbouw.

(source: Hans Willemse and Paul Morrens, in: 'Copyright Panamarenko', 2005)

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