Mostly unconsciously we have a clamor of sensory information assaulting our minds continually (unless maybe when we are asleep, and I'm not sure about then).
Theo Jansen is a Kinetic Sculpture artist, and is just too awesome to describe with words. He makes his wind powered "beach animals" from commonly available stuff like plastic tubing, cardboard boxes, plastic bottles, hose, tape, and all sorts of other weird stuff. They are 100 percent hand crafted, but if you look close enough you can see a few tell-tail signs of their computer-generated origins.
A self-styled god, Jansen is evolving an entirely new line of animals: immense multi-legged walking critters designed to roam the Dutch coastline, feeding on gusts of wind. Over the years, successive generations of his creatures have evolved into increasingly complex animals that walk by flapping wings in response to the wind, discerning obstacles in their path through feelers and even hammering themselves into the sand on sensing an approaching storm.
A scientist-turned-artist, Jansen's bizarre beach animals have their roots in a computer program that he designed 17 years ago in which virtual four-legged creatures raced against each other to identify survivors fit enough to reproduce. Determined to translate the evolutionary process off-screen, Jansen went to a local shop and found his own alternative to the biological cell -- the humble plastic tube.
According to the author of the YouTube post below, after seven years as an artist: Then he starts a project with a big flying saucer, which could really fly. It flew over the town of Delft in 1980 and brought the people in the street and the police in commotion.
Then he starts a project with a big flying saucer, which could really fly. It flew over the town of Delft in 1980 and brought the people in the street and the police in commotion.
A Modern-Day DaVinci Genius?
With Theo Jansen's talent, his work should help to develope new mobility techniques in robotics.
