Remarkable People

Evolving art: Majestic Strandbeest sculptures come to life on the beach

Evolving art: Majestic Strandbeest sculptures come to life on the beach
The Strandbeest Plaudens Vela can walk in the wind at low speeds and avoid tumbling over in high winds (Photo: Theo Jansen)
The Strandbeest Plaudens Vela can walk in the wind at low speeds and avoid tumbling over in high winds (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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The Strandbeest Plaudens Vela can walk in the wind at low speeds and avoid tumbling over in high winds (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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The Strandbeest Plaudens Vela can walk in the wind at low speeds and avoid tumbling over in high winds (Photo: Theo Jansen)
The Plaudens Vela is made of 1,200 meters of plastic tube and 60 bottles (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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The Plaudens Vela is made of 1,200 meters of plastic tube and 60 bottles (Photo: Theo Jansen)
The sails provide the propelling force while its senses help it navigate through the beach (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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The sails provide the propelling force while its senses help it navigate through the beach (Photo: Theo Jansen)
Theo Jansen with the yellow plastic tubes he uses to make the Strandbeests (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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Theo Jansen with the yellow plastic tubes he uses to make the Strandbeests (Photo: Theo Jansen)
The electric carriage that Theo built to help him pull the creatures without volunteers to help out (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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The electric carriage that Theo built to help him pull the creatures without volunteers to help out (Photo: Theo Jansen)
Using the electric carriage to move a Strandbeest (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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Using the electric carriage to move a Strandbeest (Photo: Theo Jansen)
Jansen examines the Animaris Umerus (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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Jansen examines the Animaris Umerus (Photo: Theo Jansen)
A close up of the wheel mechanism at the feet of the Strandbeest (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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A close up of the wheel mechanism at the feet of the Strandbeest (Photo: Theo Jansen)
The wheel in loose sand (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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The wheel in loose sand (Photo: Theo Jansen)
A beach animal takes a stroll at dusk (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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A beach animal takes a stroll at dusk (Photo: Theo Jansen)
The self-propelling Animaris Percipiere with its stomach (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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The self-propelling Animaris Percipiere with its stomach (Photo: Theo Jansen)
One of the beach animals finds itself in water (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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One of the beach animals finds itself in water (Photo: Theo Jansen)
A herd of the Strandbeests at dusk on the beach (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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A herd of the Strandbeests at dusk on the beach (Photo: Theo Jansen)
A storm approaches on the Percipiere beach animal(Photo: Theo Jansen)
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A storm approaches on the Percipiere beach animal(Photo: Theo Jansen)
The Siamesis animal takes a walk (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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The Siamesis animal takes a walk (Photo: Theo Jansen)
A look at the Gubernare animal (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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A look at the Gubernare animal (Photo: Theo Jansen)
Theo works on the sails of one of his beach beasts (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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Theo works on the sails of one of his beach beasts (Photo: Theo Jansen)
The Adulari animal wags its nose and tail (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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The Adulari animal wags its nose and tail (Photo: Theo Jansen)
A close up of the Animaris Adulari (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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A close up of the Animaris Adulari (Photo: Theo Jansen)
Two Adulari Strandbeests stroll on the beach (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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Two Adulari Strandbeests stroll on the beach (Photo: Theo Jansen)
The 12 m long Animaris Umerus (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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The 12 m long Animaris Umerus (Photo: Theo Jansen)
A close up of the Apodiacula animal (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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A close up of the Apodiacula animal (Photo: Theo Jansen)
A herd of the Animaris Percipiere (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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A herd of the Animaris Percipiere (Photo: Theo Jansen)
The twin animal Siamesis combined two animals for greater strength (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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The twin animal Siamesis combined two animals for greater strength (Photo: Theo Jansen)
The Animaris Gubernare with its rolling stomachs (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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The Animaris Gubernare with its rolling stomachs (Photo: Theo Jansen)
A closeup of the Umerus beach animal (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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A closeup of the Umerus beach animal (Photo: Theo Jansen)
The Strandbeest Animaris Apodiacula lies prone on the beach (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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The Strandbeest Animaris Apodiacula lies prone on the beach (Photo: Theo Jansen)
Theo examines a tipped over Apodiacula animal at Silent Beach (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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Theo examines a tipped over Apodiacula animal at Silent Beach (Photo: Theo Jansen)
Theo with the Animaris Apodiacula (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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Theo with the Animaris Apodiacula (Photo: Theo Jansen)
The Animaris Apodiacula at Silent Beach (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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The Animaris Apodiacula at Silent Beach (Photo: Theo Jansen)
A close up of the legs of the Strandbeest as it walks on the sand (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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A close up of the legs of the Strandbeest as it walks on the sand (Photo: Theo Jansen)
The close shot of the Animaris Percipiere Rectus (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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The close shot of the Animaris Percipiere Rectus (Photo: Theo Jansen)
The Animaris Percipiere Primus and another Strandbeest on the beach (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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The Animaris Percipiere Primus and another Strandbeest on the beach (Photo: Theo Jansen)
Theo Jansen the artist and engineer behind the Strandbeests (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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Theo Jansen the artist and engineer behind the Strandbeests (Photo: Theo Jansen)
The Animaris Percipiere (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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The Animaris Percipiere (Photo: Theo Jansen)
The Animaris Siamesis consists of two animals which hold each other to prevent being blown over by the wind (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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The Animaris Siamesis consists of two animals which hold each other to prevent being blown over by the wind (Photo: Theo Jansen)
Theo pulls the wooden Animaris Rhinoceros, a two ton Strandbeest to set it in motion(Photo: Theo Jansen)
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Theo pulls the wooden Animaris Rhinoceros, a two ton Strandbeest to set it in motion(Photo: Theo Jansen)
The Animaris Rhinoceros has a cockpit and room for a few people to sit in it (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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The Animaris Rhinoceros has a cockpit and room for a few people to sit in it (Photo: Theo Jansen)
The Animaris Rhinoceros was Jansen's attempt to create a beach animal that could transport people (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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The Animaris Rhinoceros was Jansen's attempt to create a beach animal that could transport people (Photo: Theo Jansen)
The Animaris Gubernare turned out to be an evolutionary dead end (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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The Animaris Gubernare turned out to be an evolutionary dead end (Photo: Theo Jansen)
The Animaris Currens Ventosa (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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The Animaris Currens Ventosa (Photo: Theo Jansen)
The Animaris Currens Ventosa Oostvoorne had 48 two part legs (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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The Animaris Currens Ventosa Oostvoorne had 48 two part legs (Photo: Theo Jansen)
A computer generated visual of the Strandbeests (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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A computer generated visual of the Strandbeests (Photo: Theo Jansen)
A herd of the Animaris Adulari on the beach (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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A herd of the Animaris Adulari on the beach (Photo: Theo Jansen)
The Animaris Ancore with a propeller and rolling anchor (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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The Animaris Ancore with a propeller and rolling anchor (Photo: Theo Jansen)
A computer-generated visual of gigantic beetle-like Gryllothalpa Strandbeests with a unique genetic code (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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A computer-generated visual of gigantic beetle-like Gryllothalpa Strandbeests with a unique genetic code (Photo: Theo Jansen)
Four Percipere animals (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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Four Percipere animals (Photo: Theo Jansen)
The large Geneticus Ondula beach animal, a mutatnt version of the Geneticus (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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The large Geneticus Ondula beach animal, a mutatnt version of the Geneticus (Photo: Theo Jansen)
Jansen adjusts the sails of one of his creatures (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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Jansen adjusts the sails of one of his creatures (Photo: Theo Jansen)
The Percipere animal finds itself in the ocean (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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The Percipere animal finds itself in the ocean (Photo: Theo Jansen)
A close up of the Siamesis beach animal (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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A close up of the Siamesis beach animal (Photo: Theo Jansen)
One of the earlier versions of the Strandbeests, the Animais Excelsus was a tall animal with a wind tank stomach and hammer (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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One of the earlier versions of the Strandbeests, the Animais Excelsus was a tall animal with a wind tank stomach and hammer (Photo: Theo Jansen)
The Animaris Sabulosa was driven by four rear fins (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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The Animaris Sabulosa was driven by four rear fins (Photo: Theo Jansen)
The Animaris Vermiculus, worm animal, had 28 muslces, 14 nerves and some primitive brains for driving the muscles (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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The Animaris Vermiculus, worm animal, had 28 muslces, 14 nerves and some primitive brains for driving the muscles (Photo: Theo Jansen)
The Animaris Sabulosa Cutis had a spoiler at the front that pushes its snout against the ground, fixing it there, as well as a skin of see-through adhesive tape coated with sand as camouflage (Photo: Theo Jansen)
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The Animaris Sabulosa Cutis had a spoiler at the front that pushes its snout against the ground, fixing it there, as well as a skin of see-through adhesive tape coated with sand as camouflage (Photo: Theo Jansen)
View gallery - 55 images

How many artificial animals can you encounter on a seaside walk? More than one if you frequent the Dutch coastline where Theo Jansen's moving artworks amble along with the help of their rudimentary senses. The complex wind-powered skeletal constructs that Jansen calls "Strandbeests," or beach beasts, are designed to stay on the beach and live off the sea breeze.

Created entirely from ordinary plastic tubes without any electronics, Jansen has through numerous evolutionary experiments equipped them with ingenious sensing mechanisms that can detect water, avoid obstacles and hammer the animal into the sand before a storm. Giving them the ability to migrate is the next principle he's attempting to master with his newest creature, the Plaudens Vela (fluttering sail beast), which will be a big step forward towards his final goal of creating a completely independent artificial animal.

Undertaking the task of manually evolving a new form of life isn't a challenge anyone would take up lightly, but Jansen was hooked when he tried to replicate the creatures that evolved within a program he designed years ago. Settling on cheap plastic tubes as his raw material, he began constructing his beasts through computer generated designs initially, and entirely freeform later on.

Varying their "DNA" by changing the tube lengths, he's created many majestic insect-like beasts that move across the sand in an almost lifelike manner. Two decades and multiple generations later he still hasn't deviated from using plastic tubes to create these creatures.

By adding recycled PET bottles, pumps and valves to these skeletons and through the clever use of air pressure, Jansen has managed to give his creations something akin to muscles, nerves and even a type of analog brain capable of reacting to its environment. With each species he evolves more senses and principles, refining them further in newer creatures and consigning the unsuccessful ones to the bone yards.

The Animaris Gubernare had a rolling plastic stomach on the ground which stored compressed air but turned out to be an evolutionary dead-end since it was too heavy for the animal to move around with. Herds of the creatures grew smaller as he began fine tuning senses on individual animals. A working sand feeler was the highlight of the Animaris Protinus, while the Animaris Adulari used a wagging nose and tail to help it sense the hard sand it could walk on.

The self-propelling Animaris Percipiere with its stomach (Photo: Theo Jansen)
The self-propelling Animaris Percipiere with its stomach (Photo: Theo Jansen)

"They are blind and deaf and they have to navigate somehow," Jansen tells us. "You can do a lot with compressed air. They have a sort of tongue, which is a long tube and as soon as air pressure is in there, it can feel if the sand is even or uneven, i.e. if it is hard sand or soft sand. It steers away from the soft sand, towards the sea."

However, strong winds had the Adulari tumbling and breaking its knees, so he combined it with the Protinus to create the Plaudens Vela, incorporating skis into the design to help it glide across the sand instead. Normally powered by sails, the creatures also utilize pistons to pump air into bottles, using it as a sort of wind stomach to power themselves so that they can escape in the case of emergencies, like a sudden wave of water. The sail component of the Plaudens Vela pushes the animal forward, while the bottle carrier part contains all the senses. With around 1,200 m (3,900 ft) of tubing and 60 bottles packed into its 120 kg (260 lb) frame, the Plaudens Vela is Jansen's newest species, a non-tumbling creature that can move even at low wind speeds.

Over time, the Strandbeests have learned to sense the strength and direction of the wind, the hardness of the sand and even calculate when it's low tide with a sort of timer by using air as the basis of their neural system.

"You can compare the timer with a sand clock," Jansen tells us. "Similar to how sand flows through, you have air flowing through a leak so it can estimate the time. The water feeler is a flexible tube, two inches above the ground that sucks air all the time. When it swallows water and feels its resistance it knows it is high tide. It can react by running out of the sea or it can start the timer. After three hours, it knows it is low tide."

A storm approaches on the Percipiere beach animal(Photo: Theo Jansen)
A storm approaches on the Percipiere beach animal(Photo: Theo Jansen)

Hard-wiring these reflexes into the creature's structure, however, is a labor intensive process. On a typical day, Jansen takes the sensing mechanism he's tinkered with at home, puts it on a bicycle, rides to the beach and tries it out on the animal. The next big challenge he's taken on is getting the animals to migrate between two locations 5 km ( 3 miles) apart on the Dutch coastline. A step counter that utilizes bottles and a pump will help his creations calculate the distance.

"When it leaves a certain place, the animal knows how far it is and where it is on the beach, because it depends on the pressure in the bottles," Jansen says. "After about a thousand steps, the pressure in the bottle drops, so that it knows it has taken a thousand steps. So when they travel from Kijkduin to Scheveningen, they know they have arrived."

Starting their migration at Kijkduin and pumping themselves up as they wait, the Strandbeests will have to make the decision to start with their sails spread out when the wind speed is right. As they walk, they'll need to feel the sand making sure that they stay on the border between the soft and hard sand, parallel to the coastline and avoid walking into the sea or loose sand. Counting their steps as they walk, they'll have to figure out when they've arrived in Scheveningen, turn around, put the brakes on and wait again for the right winds before starting off back. Jansen says that they'll need all the senses he's worked on and possibly some more if they're going to master migration.

It doesn't faze him, though, as he works through developing more sensory mechanisms, such as giving them the ability to sense atmospheric pressure to let them predict storms. Although he admits that there's a limit to the kind of senses that can be evolved.

"I would like to let them see but is very hard to do with tubes," Jansen tells us." You need to build a retina and lens. I want to create something that lives on its own and reproduces – that's the ultimate dream."

The otherwordly and (mostly) graceful movements of the Strandbeest Plaudens Vela and other creations can be seen in the videos below.

Source: Theo Jansen

plaudens vela 1

one step

View gallery - 55 images
6 comments
6 comments
bergamot69
There are some things in this world that could only be created by certain nations.
The Citroen 2CV and (classic) DS could only possibly be French.
The game of cricket could only possibly have originated in England.
And this odd, useless, yet entirely wonderful and beautiful contraption? It could only come from the mind of a Dutchman...
Gotta love the Dutch.
Slowburn
That is so freaking cool.
Rule1
I've been following Jansen's progress for a few years now. The strandbeasts are quite fascinating. Wonder if he's looking for a MechE assistant... lol
The Hoff
Theo Jansen is awesome. All The silly inventions you cover and it took you this long to get to Theo Jansen. Gizmag should have a suggestion box because they are missing out on a lot of the best man has to offer.
dalroth5
I'm with Slowburn on this one, these are the coolest things I've seen on Gizmag so far. The Dutch are amazing engineers as well as being the world's masters of plants.
Ele Truk
You forgot to mention on his website http://www.strandbeest.com/ you can order small kits of his creations. I was in Holland last year and it was during the time he was supposed to be taking the creatures out to the beach, but I never say any of them.