Ensemble

The avant-garde magazine Happening News first appeared in September 1965 on the initiative of Panamarenko, Hugo Heyrman, Wout Vercammen and Yoshio Nakajima. It mostly contained photocopied collages rooted in Dadaism and Surrealism. Although at first sight they appear spontaneous, many of these collages were thoroughly planned and, after some decipherment, turned out to refer to previous happenings. A total of six issues appeared, with an average of sixteen pages. After the first three, the format was enlarged, the price went up considerably (from 25 to 100 Belgian francs) and the title was changed to Milkyways. The singular collages of words and images that Panamarenko designed for Happening News often consisted of illustrations and extracts from American scientific periodicals and magazines, including Scientific American, Popular Mechanics and Mechanic Illustrated. This not only demonstrated Panamarenko’s feeling for composition and detail, but also revealed several of the fascinations and sources of inspiration that were to recur and be materialised in his later oeuvre.