Panamarenko - Archaeopterix - Sold

Archaeopterix, self-learning bird in plexibox.
Hand signed, not numbered.

A curious bird sits on a tree trunk, does not attract attention at first, then does. If a spectator approaches and gets close enough, the artwork moves. The bird jumps and flaps its wings. Panamarenko himself does not debunk the mystery, he makes it even bigger.


"I had received a nice tree trunk from the city somewhere, because they wanted such a nice wooden bird. And he is now jumping on it. A crazy look. It is a toy, and in fact I only make toys, because that is the real art: the poetry of a toy What others call the real art is too much like art, that is the problem, because art is the only vehicle of which one should try to stay out of the sphere of influence at all times , not to do what the power or those in power say: that is the essence of art. That is why I only like artists who have done that or still do, such as Joseph Beuys, Bruce Nauman and Marcel Broodthaers.”

Panamarenko has been fascinated by science since the 1960s and has made numerous attempts to translate it into art. His flying machines, spacecraft and zeppelins are world famous, but doomed to be grounded forever. In doing so, the artist depicts man's dream to fly and his ambition to reach for the higher things. The sober conclusion is that he is unable to do so. He can only flap and jump, like this bird.