Strandbeests

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Strandbeests: amazing kinetic sand-scuttling sculptures

Published on Jun 1, 2016

Kinetic sculptor Theo Jansen brings his mesmerizing wind-powered PVC-pipe animals to the San Francisco Exploratorium.

 

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Adam Savage meets Theo Jansen's Strandbeest!

Published on Jun 8, 2016

Dutch artist Theo Jansen brings his Strandbeest creatures to San Francisco to walk along our coast! Adam has been fascinated by these giant PVC-constructed machines for a long time, and finally gets up close to meet one in person and chat with its creator. Watch how the Strandbeest strolls across the sand!

 

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Strandbeest: The Dream Machines of Theo Jansen Exhibit Tour

Published on Jun 10, 2016

We tour the new Strandbeest at the Exploratorium science museum in San Francisco and get up close to Theo Jansen's magnificent creatures. We also chat with Theo about his evolutionary philosophy and build process, and what's next for the Strandbeest.

 

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Published on Jun 21, 2016

New Strandbeests are coming. They are called Bruchus. These don't have hinges in their joints. So sand cannot come in there anymore. Classical (leg)beasts always had trouble with that. The new ones are not able to walk on wind yet, but I am working on it.

 

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Published on Jun 28, 2016

 

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Mr Sandman

Published on Jul 22, 2016

This wonderful song Mr. Sandman written by Pat Ballard, published in 1954 and first recorded in that same year by The Chordettes, fitted so nicely with the experiments of Theo Jansen. So I edited some movies Theo is struggling with the animals. He often makes his movies on his own, so you see him running from and towards the camera. In my feeling the song really symbolizes Theo's Dream machines.
Peter Welbeest, editor.

 

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Published on Aug 7, 2016

Pushing one of Theo Jansens kinetic machines at the SF exploratorium.

 

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RUPS 6

Published on Sep 29, 2016

Animaris Bruchus is driven by pressed air coming from a compressor.
Eventually it will be driven by wind. It will have a wing which moves up and down in the wind. Small pumps will press air into pet-bottles. And the animal can walk on this pressed air. .... Probably against the wind.

 

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Animaris Mulus Strandbeest Theo Jansen

Published on May 31, 2017

Animaris Mulus is the new strandbeest. This is the first time a caterpillar walked on the wind. The caterpillar walking system is very simple. Two lines keep a number of segments is together, so the shape of a wave appears. The big advantage of the caterpillar is that it doesn't have any hinging parts. So no lubrication and no sand in the joints. It can also carry a lot of weight. In the coming generation it will carry the wind stomach (PET-bottles for wind storage) and a pumping wing. All my hope is on the MULUS.

 

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Strandbeest evolution 2017

Published on Jun 7, 2017

Numerous specimen of the Strandbeest evolution on music of Khachaturian's Spartacus. It open the archives of fossils. Theo Jansen's work since 1990. He tries to make new forms of live on beaches. His animals get their energy from the wind so they don't have to eat. In the future he wants to put out in herds.

 

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Animaris Mulus. (Mule) on the beach in the summer of 2017.

Published on Oct 26, 2017

 

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legsystem Strandbeest Theo Jansen

Published on May 16, 2018

Theo explains about the Strandbeest legsystem. He invented that in 1991.

 

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UMINAMI 2018

Published on Jun 14, 2018

UMINAMI, the new strandbeest doesn't have hinging joints like the classical strandbeests. So they don't get sand in their joints and you don't have to lubricate them.

 

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Chalips op de wind II

Premiered on Oct 30, 2018

Animaris Chalips, the smallest caterpillar. More than the other caterpillars, Animaris Chalips is able to fool our visual system. Circle segments appear out of nowhere at the tail of the beast. They travel to the front and disappear again.
Animaris Chalips walks very well on dry, fluffy sand.

 

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Chatsjatoerjan

Premiered on Oct 30, 2018

The Adagio from the Spartacus ballet, composed by Aram Chatsjatoerjan (1903-1978) has always been an important inspiration for the Strandbeests. In many strandbeest movies in the past, you hear Chatsjatoerjan in the background, but I think the combination of music and images was ever better than the one in this movie.

 

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caterpillar

Published on Jan 31, 2019

Theo explains the mechanics of the Strandbeest caterpillar.

 

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Strandbeest Hovering

Sep 25, 2020

The new beach animal Animaris Ader is named after the 19th century aviation pioneer Clement Ader (1841-1926). In order not to be buried in a sandstorm, it can hover a little above the ground. Beach animals are normally sand magnets. They attract sand when the wind blows. So floating could be a new survival strategy. To be able to do this, they must be able to anchor themselves. In the past, this often happened with a pin that was hammered into the ground. Now I am thinking more of a screw pin that screws itself into the ground. This is done with compressed air, generated by the wavy wing on top of the Ader, which pumps air into PET bottles.

 

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Strandbeest Multi Tripodes

Oct 25, 2020

Beast with many legs (36).
The special thing about the way a beach animal walks is that it does not bump like us. The body of a beach animal stays at the same level while the legs walk under it. This is the result of the angle of the upper leg in relation to that of the lower leg. The oblique position is continuously compensated by that of the lower leg so that the hip joint remains at the same height. Well, with the Multi Tripodes, behind the row of hind legs, there is a row of extra legs that imitate the hind legs by means of parallelograms. The high and lower leg of those extra legs are parallel to those of the hind legs. This provides six extra legs. Now you can continue by adding more imitating legs. The beast originally had 12 legs (connected to the crankshaft). I added a total of 24 legs (4 rows).

 

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Strandbeest Evolution 2021

Apr 3, 2022

Strandbeest Evolution 2021 provides an update on the evolutionary development. Every spring I go to the beach with a new beast. During the summer I do all kinds of experiments with the wind, sand and water. In the fall I grew a bit wiser about how these beasts can survive the circumstances on the beach. At that point I declare them extinct and they go to the bone yard.

 

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2023 Animaris Rex

Sep 29, 2023

Since the beginning of this summer I have been trying to connect several running units (Ordissen) in succession. Animaris Rex is a herd of beach animals whose specimens hold each other as defense against storms. As individuals they would simply blow over, but as a group the chance of surviving a storm would be greater. It is 18 meters long (5 meters longer than the largest Tyrannosaurus Rex found.)