Inventor

Panamarenko attempts to overcome gravity and aerodynamic drag with hand-made mechanisms and machines. He makes three-dimensional models that reflect his ideas and theories. It is not his intention to simply invent a motor, but to set in motion the entire thought process.

Regenwagentje (Rain cart)

Gerrit van Bakel’s machines move by utilizing the forces of nature. Rain cart (1982-1983) is one of his most important works. When the tray on the cart is filled with rainwater, it tips over and the cart lurches a few metres forward. Thus the cart converts weight into energy.

Utopia

In the nineteen fifties and sixties, Constant was building his New Babylon, a city of the future for the Homo Ludens (the Playing Man). The designs shown in the exhibition are a model for a new society. An urban utopia where people live as nomads, freed from the burden of ownership.

Read or download the exhibition text

Images top: general views of the exhibition with works by Panamarenko, Tom Claassen, Gerrit van Bakel and Carel Visser (photos: Marjon Gemmeke) / below: Constant, Nébulose mécanique, 1958