blue ball-pen on A 37 90 89 letterhead, unframed 21,5x26 cm

Executed 4 July 1969.

Between 1969 and 1971, Panamarenko builds his most imaginative zeppelin, The Aeromodeller. The airship is the embodiment of the artist’s desire to be able to move freely through the sky at any given time. The gondola of wickerwork rattan is designed as a living space. Atop the gondola two aircraft engines have been mounted to operate the imposing airship, which was carried by a cigar-shaped balloon measuring almost 30 metres. In 1971, Panamarenko wants to test his zeppelin in the fields of the artist Jef Geys in Balen, Belgium, aiming to cross the border and fly to the art event ‘Sonsbeek buiten de perken’ in Arnhem, the Netherlands. However, he is prohibited from undertaking the journey by the Dutch aviation police, who inform Panamarenko of this by telegram. To make matters worse, a storm is brewing above the fields in Balen, thwarting the attempt to take off. The Aeromodeller gains an iconic status within Panamarenko’s oeuvre. In the following decades, Panamarenko builds many variant models and prototypes for airships, each with a unique shape, colour, and dimension.