Theo Jansen is rapidly becoming a major, internationally recognised artist working in the field of kinetic art, a status reflected by the year-long touring retrospective of his work taking place in 2009 in South East Asia which will include four three month long large-scale exhibitions in Tokyo, Seoul and elsewhere.

Born in 1948 in Scheveningen, The Netherlands, Jansen had an early career, based in Delft, in physics and engineering research which, in 1975, he chose to abandon to embark upon a career as an artist. After initially concentrating on painting, he began to apply his knowledge of engineering and genetic algorithms to create mechanised works of art, including a UFO and a painting machine. After these early investigations in automation, his work took a significant turn in 1990 when he began to develop a series of mechanical creature-like skeletal devices he named strandbeest (Dutch - “beach animal”). From then to the present day he has devoted his time to developing the strandbeests, applying a fascinating mix of the basic principles of Darwinian evolution and engineering to invest the machines with increasingly sophisticated animal-like abilities, including complex articulated locomotion to enable them to walk and sensory mechanisms which allow them to respond to aspects of their immediate environment. Some of the most impressive features of the strandbeests are that they have no electronic elements; that they can capture energy from the wind, with wing-like sails, to power their movement and, most recently, store this energy; and that much of the materials used in their construction are recycled scrap, predominantly plastic conduit piping widely used in The Netherlands for carrying electricity cables.

Jansen describes the 18 years he has spent on developing the strandbeests in terms of epochs, analogous to geological ages such as the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous. These usefully describe the major steps, evolutionary steps, in the development of his work:

I Pregluton(pre-1990) The period before strandbeests existed in the physical world and the creation of virtual life forms on a computer

II Gluton – the tape period (1990–1991) Early versions of strandbeests held together with adhesive tape

III Chorda – the strap period (1991–1993) The introduction of cable ties as a means to fasten pipes together and the complex articulation of legs

IV Calidum – the hot period (1993–1994) The introduction of a heat gun to bend pipes

V Tepideem– the less hot period (1993–1994) The creation of multiples of identical strandbeests to create herds

Vi Lignatum –  the wood period (1994–1997) A diversion into recycling pallets as the principle construction material

VII Vaporum– the pneumatic period (2001–2006) A return to plastic piping for construction and the introduction of “muscles” and the ability to store energy

VIII Cerebrum– the brains period (2006–present) The development of non-electronic sensory mechanisms which enable the strandbeests to react to changes in environmental conditions

It is in the context of this latest period, the Cerebrum, that Jansen is creating some of his most astonishing and exciting work. Taking the latest developments he has evolved with the strandbeests, he will be constructing one of his most ambitious works to date for presentation in the UK. Named Umerus, at 14 metres long it will also be one of the largest he has constructed. When completed, it will be able to store energy, generated from the pumping action of wind-driven sails that form part of its construction and which compress air into reservoirs of recycled soft drink bottles (“stomachs”).  This energy can be released and, via piston mechanisms, used to power the device when prevailing wind conditions are too light to propel it in its more customary form. The articulation of the strandbeests, their multi-legged walking mechanisms, function most efficiently on relatively firm surfaces and have been designed to work on the harder sand to be found between high and low tide. Left to their own devices, an autonomy that Jansen ultimately seeks, such locations leave them highly vulnerable to being swamped by the sea. In an effort to overcome this, he has devised an astonishingly simple mechanical sensory mechanism which enable the strandbeest to detect adverse conditions in its immediate environment. A length of flexible plastic tubing dangles from the main structure to ground level which is designed, using air pressure differentials, to detect water at ground level. When the end of the tube is immersed, it causes the release of the stored compressed air which then powers the device, enabling it to scuttle away from the threat of an incoming tide.

In the summer of 2010, Umerus will be demonstrated in action in Exeter city centre and on the beach at Exmouth. These events will take place in conjunction with a month-long exhibition of Jansen's strandbeest work at Spacex. Jansen, who is an excellent and enthusiastic articulator of his own work, will also give two public talks about the strandbeest project.

This project has been developed for Anti-Bodies by Spacex in collaboration with amino

strandbeest.com the strandbeest website

text © 2009 amino