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THEO JANSEN
Artist Theo Jansen creates "Animari", immense multi-legged walking creatures that roam the Dutch coastline, feeding on gusts of wind. Over the years, successive generations of his creatures have evolved into increasingly complex animals that walk by flapping wings in response to the wind and discerning obstacles in their path through feelers and even hammering themselves into the sand on sensing an approaching storm.
Jansen studied physics at the University of Delft in Holland, then turned to art. After painting for seven years, his design took another direction with a flying saucer he flew over the town of Delft in 1980, drawing the people into the streets and sending police into pandemonium. For the past fifteen years, Jansen has dedicated himself to creating artificial life through the use of genetic algorithms that simulate evolution inside their code. His animals have legs, muscles (pneumatic pistons within the plastic tubing), stomachs (plastic bottles for storing air), and nerves (collections of on/off values that work much like logic gates). Over time complex designs emerged. Articulated legs sprout and scuttle across the sand like those of a crab. Theo uses plastic electrical conduit to make some of the computer's most promising designs. He then lets them roam free on the beach, measures their success, and updates his model. Eventually, he wants to put these animals out in herds on the beaches, to live their own lives.
Jansen’s work has been widely exhibited in Europe and the U.S. including 'EUROPA 94' exhibition in Munich, 'Mission Impossible' exhibition at Westergasfabriek, Amsterdam, Institute of Contemporary Art, The Mall, London, ETAT Exhibition in Taipeh, Taiwan, and 'The Believers', exhibition at Museum of Contemporary Art, Massachusetts, and has been featured in a BMW commercial which aired in Germany, Spain and South Africa.
website: www.strandbeest.com
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