I came across this amazing piece of innovation on Facebook. I was so mesmerized by it that I decided to look more into it. So I found out about the great Dutch artist Theo Jansen.
He had been working for over two decades of his life to develop these ‘creatures’ which initially appear to be just kinetic sculptures. But there is more to them.
He was invited to talk on TED in March 2007. Below is a video of him giving his talk.
In the video he says that he sees his “Strandbeests” as living creatures. They can move like living organisms on the beaches of Holland where he takes them and leaves them. He wants to make them autonomous. They should be able to detect water or loose-sand, where they might get stuck and so steer themselves away to safety.
I have so many mixed opinions on this. Essentially these Kinetic sculptures are only PVC pipes, rubber bands, plastic sheet and maybe some old plastic bottles. But they functions so well that do look almost life like. I also feel that Theo has done a wonderful job of incorporating computer programme like logical functions into physical objects. Also these look like the next step of evolution as these beasts take shape and Theo their GOD is making them piece-by-piece from inside-out. This also seems like the next level of robotics and the AI (Artificial Intelligence) which was extensively worked upon in the 90’s.
What do you think, if they have life like abilities, like they sense the environment around them and react to it, then are they living organisms? Is it what the soul is all about? Or are they just clock-work walking randomly and performing their robotic functions programmed into them?
