Panamarenko is a Belgian artist born in 1940 in Antwerp who studied at the Royal Academy for Fine Arts in Antwerp from 1955-1960. He became interested in planes and human powered flight early on, which is reflected in his name that is supposedly an acronym for "Pan American Airlines and Company". For thirty years, he has pursued exploration of space, movement, flight, energy and the force of gravity as an artist, engineer, poet, physicist, inventor and visionary.