Theo Jansen is a Dutch artist who makes wind-powered kinetic sculptures called “Strandbeests” (“Beach creatures,” if Dutch is like German). They’re truly amazing, and here’s one (ignore Jansen’s creationism!):
You can see more at the link above or at Jansen’s website.
h/t: Michael
I’ve seen them in real life, they’re pretty amazing.
Small correction, the plural of beest is beesten in Dutch, so the correct term is “strandbeesten”.
And you can order 3D printed models from Shapeways. My wife was desperately trying to figure out how to order one for her friend back in the States, until she realised that the gallery’s actually a block down the street from us in the center of Amsterdam…
The 3D-printer model version for indoors is powered by human muscle ~ in that you have to pull it like a Victorian-era toy
Hasn’t got the ‘magic’ of his impressive wind-powered machines
It is almost magical to see them move–startling, and slightly creepy (but in a good way). Why is it so eerie to watch them crawling down the beach? I never thought it was eerie watching, say, the Mars Rover…
These creatures evolved.
… but only with a little help of their creator. 😉
That’s excellent! All he needs to do now is to get them to reproduce with slight errors and we are all screwed 🙂
Amazing!
“I will live on for the bitches.” Lol.
Jansen: “You discover all the problems the real Creator must have had…”
Huh?
What about His privileged access to the Blessed Torque Wrench? The Holy Nut Driver? The Sacred Crosscut Saw?
Methinks Jansen doth protest too much. Surely a God whose Son was born a carpenter wouldn’t be intimidated by a little mechanical hack & wack.
Sacred Crosscut Saw
Gives fire damage and +5 to attack.
…but only for clerics;-)
I think his creatures are wonderful. I’d love to run into one on the beach. I suppose they’d need human help in hurricane winds, tho!
By the way, I don’t think I’ve seen pvc pipe in that color–thought it was bamboo at first.
The conceit that these are some kind of life is annoying. He may have invented a machine that is useful for walking on uneven surfaces. For being blown along, tumbleweeds do it better.
Much of their beauty lies in the out-of-step repetition of the segments; well, caterpillars invented/evolved that, only lengthways instead of sideways.
The one thing that does seem innovative is the waving sail on top, but does that really deliver power to the legs, or just act as a sail? (I suspect it actually impedes the motion.)
Yea, the whole life thing is a little wacky, but then people can anthropomorphise Legos and those things are bloody order of magnitude more amazing. The ‘beast’ can apparently sense water, secure itself by pounding in a stake, store wind energy for later use and keep track of where it is using a binary counter. And all that with PVC and bottles! I’m almost regretting not choosing engineering…
Nette Strandbiester!
I think they’re absolutely delightful; they remind me of the sculptures that litter the desert in Ballard’s ‘Vermilion Sands’.
When the narrator comments that it took “trial and error” to build the creatures, I’m reminded of natural selection and its trial and error rather than creation.