Throwback Thursday: A look back on 'STRANDBEEST'

 

So.....way back in this Blog's infancy, and in my mid twenties I wrote and Article about 'STRAND BEEST' which is an inorganic life/artform powered by wind. IT IS SUPER COOL and METAL AF in my opinion. Well I was randomly surfing and thought about thaat for the first time in YEARS. Artist Theo Jansen started this project in the late 80s and it was grown and evolved over the last few decades. I remember originally finding about him randomly from a STUMBLEPUPON video I saw of one of his creations. Blew me away, the elegance of movement and the fact that it was wind powered immediately had me hooked. But yeah.... that's my pitch, decided to recycle this article because Theo is still hard at work and I would love to help tell his story to as many people as possible.

CONTINUE reading for more info! (and enjoy because.....seriously...this is SO neat and nifty)

Here's the HTML COPY of my original post: 

http://www.strandbeest.com

I'm at a loss for words. This is Theo Jansen's Strand Beest, and inorganic, art/life-form.  It's science fiction, engineering, nature and art all rolled into one beautiful non-sentient life-form. IT really IS amazing. just watch the video at the very least. At the very most visit the website and read EVERY sub-page like I did, it is fascinating (at least to me it i). I find it very creative and inspiring to try and create non essential life. Shoot....made scientists probably create life everyday, but this is Leonardo Da Vinci par-level art. It rolls so many skills into one and I can definitely say that A. I appreciate it for what it is and isn't and 

B. I'm inspired and invigorated by it's weird wonderfulness.

website here

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That was from July 13th, 2013 at 2:43 a.m. Oh man.......back when I could stay up that late hahahaha.

2013.... I was still working as a Grill Master/Hypeman at BD's Mongolian Grill, I wasn't married yet (Nancy and I had moved into our first apartment by this point I'm pretty sure) and definitely no crotch goblins yet. Fast times, crazy trips and just being young. ANYWAYS.... FF to today, THEO JANSEN (the artist in charge of this project) is still going strong. Despite being skeptical of creating a flying 'beast' looks like, according to his website, he has successfully done it! Last I checked in the FAQ on his website stated that swimming and flying 'beasts' wouldn't be a good idea because rule 1 for him was survivability and those two scenarios offer a range of challenging variables to ensure rule 1.

What kind of material is the tube made of?

 It is made of PVC, which is known in the Netherlands as electric conduit. It is used to conduct electricity cables. It has a kind of yellowish colour, it is light material and it is also cheap. I would prefer to use a more environmentally friendly material, however the disadvantage of other materials, such as bamboo, is that it rots away at the beach. The PVC tube is the only suitable material that can withstand the given circumstances such as sun, sea, wind, water and beach. 

Do you also love the animals like a person or a pet?

 I love my animals but not in the same way as I love people, for that they are too far away from us in evolution.

 Do you sometimes think of swimming or flying animals? 

Yes, I think often about this, however the starting point of my animals is that they must be able to survive. Swimming or flying animals are less suitable for this. 

How heavy is a beach animal? And how many meters of PVC tube is there in a beach animal?

 A big animal is about 180 kg. There is an average of 2 to 3 thousand meters in an animal. 

-Source via STRANDBEEST.com