Theo Jansen

Theo Jansen (Den Haag, 1948) is a Dutch artist. Jansen grew up with a knack for both physics and art and studied physics at the University of Delft. While at Delft, Jansen was involved in many projects that involved both art and technology, including a paint machine and a UFO. In 1990, he began what he is known for today: building large mechanisms out of PVC that are able to move on their own, known only as Strandbeest. His animated works are a fusion of art and engineering. Jansen says: "The walls between art and engineering exist only in our minds." What was at first a rudimentary breed has slowly evolved into a generation of machines that are able to react to their environment: "Over time, these skeletons have become increasingly better at surviving the elements such as storms and water, and eventually I want to put these animals out in herds on the beaches, so they will live their own lives." In 2014 the photo book Strandbeest: The Dream Machines of Theo Jansen came out by the Russian-American photographer Lena Herzog, who followed Jansen for seven years.