The Aeromodeller 00-PL (1969-1971)
Panamarenko

collection Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst (S.M.A.K.), Ghent

The Belgian artist Panamarenko (° 1940) is strongly fascinated by the methods, the laws and the poetry of aviation. Since the mid 60s he started creating his own ‘spaceships’. By studying diverse airship constructions and theories, he developed the idea to make his own zeppelin. A prominent example is his airship The Aeromodeller . It’s a cigar shaped balloon and a gondola - with all facilities to make a comfortable journey.
At one occasion Panamarenko actually tried to fly with the zeppelin (1971). Afterwards this airship was presented as an artwork at Documenta V, where the balloon was filled with air (1972). Since then The Aeromodeller is always shown this way.

The extra large dimension of the work and the degradation of the modern materials (PVC foil, synthetic glues and painted cane) are problematic.
In the beginning of 2004 the conservation department of the museum started with the treatment of the balloon (consolidation and cleaning).

Balloon: length 26.89 m; diameter 6.19 m.
Gondola: 2.029 x 6.272 x 3.280 m