(magazine) Happening News / Milkyways

First Three in -4°, last Three in-fol. All stapled under orig. plastic wrappers.

1. First issue (September 1965): 8pp. Xeroxed in blue, recto/verso (296 x 210 mm).

2. Second issue (Ocober 1965): 9 pp. Xeroxed in black on white card, recto/verso (299 x 224 mm). This issue contains the xeroxed heads of the four protagonists, Panamarenko, Wout Vercammen, Hugo Heyrman and Bernd Lohaus. Tony Rombouts and Jeroen Henneman both contributed with a single page composition/ poem. One composition by Hugo Heyrman bears the date '13 oktober 1965'.

3. Third issue (October 1965): 8pp. Xeroxed in black on white glossy paper (300 x 229 mm). Front page sprayed in orange (fluorescent). This issue has also a contribution by Thomas Jaspers.

4. Fourth issue (appr. December 1965): 9pp. Xeroxed in black on white card, one yellow page. Front page bears red stamp 'Milkyways and Happenings and Op and Pop Art/ Panamarenko Multimilllionair'. Two sheets of smaller size (300 x 230 mm). One sheet with original drawing by Marcel Broodthaers 'Pot' in black felt pen (repeated 11 times over the sheet, and with a 'pot' drawing in the middle). The other sheet bears a Dutch stamp, with the date '5 December 1965' (Up to this moment it's uncertain whether this date comes close to the date of publication of this issue.) On the inside of the last page/ backcover, stamp 'N°16'. The most famous and sought after issue is this large white one with the original drawing of Marcel Broodthaers. This copy has the 'Pot' drawing. There are also copies with the 'eggshell' or the 'number' drawing.

5. Fifth issue (n.d.): 9pp. With slice of cheese in plastic wrap around and stamped, attached to cover. Xeroxed in black on different types of paper/card, mostly yellow/ yellowish green. Second sheet, xeroxed on yellow paper (350 x 200 mm) bears three red, one purple and two blue stamps, the last three are in Japanese writing. The third sheet, on white card, but with the recto glossy yellow has an embroidened piece by Guy Mees attached to it. The fifth has a collage and folds out. The sixth is a cut out sheet from a Dutch newspaper. The seventh has a drawing in brown and black ink, with poetry inscription by an unknown artist. The eighth is xeroxed on brown card. The last one has a 'knitted' composition running on through the back. This copy bears a stamped number on the verso of the eighth sheet 'N°20'.

6. Sixth issue (March 1966?): 6pp. Xeroxed in black on mainly glossy pink card. Cover sheet with cut-out and attached parts. With poster 'International Happening News/ Oostende vrijdag 7 augustus voor het casino-cursaal', on pink paper, folded in two (270 x 440 mm). With date corrected to '6 augustus' in green marker. The title 'KYRPWWAWAX' was invented by Hugo Heyrman and Panamarenko. The second sheet is actually a copy of a polaroid picture of Hugo Heyrman at a gas station on their way to the Ostend happening, taken by Panamarenko. On the verso of this sheet there is an attached 'telegram' with text: 'number six will be a blimp - stop -/ called/ 'The general spinaxis Milkyway'. A cut out sheet of black xerox on brown card placed inbetween. The fifth sheet is a composition by Roland Rom, black xerox on brown card (350 x 250 mm). The last sheet has a wollen thread attached with a ring at the end and bears a small stamp 'wout vercammen'. On the back is a xerox 'artwork' by Bernd Lohaus, a.k.a. 'Medic Matter', depicting an armless doll signed in black marker 'lohaus' and red stamp 'bernd/ lohaus'. The second sheet bears at the verso the big red stamp 'Milkyways and Happenings and Op and Pop Art/ The Happy Space Maker Hugo Heyrman' and in the center a green stamp 'N°17'.

Sixth issue / Milkyways 6

Hugo Heyrman, Panamarenko, Wout Vercammen, Bernd Lohaus and Yoshio Nakajima, those men made up the core group behind these wonderful and playful editions. Echoing literary aspirations, fuelled by Henry Miller, Arthur Rimbaud, a.o., and political motivation (the Dutch connection was ever present), these publications are now to be considered as a landmark 'event' of that era. The edition ranges from 800 copies for the first issue till no more than 100 for the last ones. Complete sets are therefore extremely hard to get by. Bibliographers seem to agree that up till today only a dozen or so compete sets have surfaced. A most desirable set of this mythical publication.

Expertise: Elias Leytens & Peter Bernaerts.
Information kindly provided by: Dr. Hugo Heyrman, Stephan Peleman, Paul Morrens, Jan Ceuleers and Gert Segers.
Source: 'Works on Paper - Département du Papier'. Veilingshuis Bernaerts/ Hôtel de Ventes Bernaerts, Antwerpen/ Anvers, 13 June 2013.