Thursday, October 18, 2012

Kinetic Sculpture

Dutch artist Theo Jansen has created a number of moving sculptures he calls 'Animari'.  Each wind-powered 'Strandbeest' or beach animal is made up of PVC tubes of varying length, wood and wing-like sails.  The creations sport legs, which "prove to be more efficient on sand than wheels...they don’t need to touch every inch of the ground along the way, as a wheel has to."

Jansen studied physics at the University of Delft, where he was involved in several projects which combined physics and art, including a UFO and a painting machine. Jansen says: "The walls between art and engineering exist only in our minds."


A fusion of aesthetics and physics, his creations are also able to store air pressure and use it to drive them in the absence of wind: "Self-propelling beach animals like Animaris Percipiere have a stomach. This consists of recycled plastic bottles containing air, that can be pumped up to a high pressure by the wind." Theo's more sophisticated creations are able to detect once they have entered water and walk away from it, and one species will even anchor itself to the earth if it senses a storm approaching.


After viewing the photographs below, be sure to click on the video links to see the strandbeests in action.















Visit Theo Jansen's WEBSITE.












1 comment:

  1. This is my first time i visit here. I found so much entertaining stuff in your blog, especially its discussion, I guess I am not the only one having all the enjoyment here! Keep up the good work.Thanks!!
    Kinetic Wind Sculptures

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