Strandbeests: Artificial Nature
Emory Irpan
650 704 9686 | irpan@usc.edu
Abstract: This article talks about what Theo Jansen's Strandbeests are, how specific
mechanisms in these artificial creatures work, and how they can impact the rest of the world.
The article also addresses how we can apply the mindset that is employed when creating these
creatures to other world issues, as well as how art and engineering overlap.
Keywords: Theo Jansen, kinetic sculpture, art, engineering, fusion, technology, Klann linkage,
binary systems
About the Author: Emory Irpan is a junior majoring in business administration with a minor in
2-D art for video games at the University of Southern California. Previously, he has worked at a
Fortune 500 company, Robert Half International as a designer under their branch, "The Creative
Group". In his free time, Emory enjoys learning new things about subjects he's already learned,
particularly about new solutions to the world's current issues.
Strandbeest: Artificial Nature
Picture a skeletal creature with many legs. It has no head, no face—it's simply a chaotic
mess of legs and support struts. The creature is composed of plastic pipes. Flexible plastic fins
rear out of its back, like some sort of strange land-fish. This creature is standing on a windy
beach—suddenly its fins start undulating and the creature starts moving. Now it's walking with
fluid, almost unnervingly precise steps. Sounds strange doesn't it? Perhaps it's something in a
science fiction novel, or a Hayao Miyazaki film. No, it's a Strandbeest (Dutch for "beach
animal"), and Theo Jansen has been creating them for over 20 years.1
A Strandbeest on Holland's beach dunes. 7
These artificial creatures have to be seen to be believed. And once you see them,
there'll be no doubt that they're a masterful fusion of art and engineering. Specifically,
Strandbeests are a form of art known as kinetic sculptures. Kinetic sculptures are art pieces that
contain moving parts and pieces. They depend on motion to achieve their intended artistic
effect. These moving parts are generally powered by a motor, wind, or even the observer/artist
themselves. In order to properly implement motion into an art piece, a great deal of
engineering has to be done. For example, Theo Jansen's Strandbeests are completely powered
by wind, and use that wind power to move a variety of clever mechanisms within the artificial
creatures. Some feature "bottles" that are able to store wind for later use, and they're even
able to possess a rudimentary form of intelligence2. Not one of them has a motor or battery to
power them, and they're made entirely of PVC pipe3. Jansen's Strandbeests are one of the best
examples of how engineering has a place in the art field, particularly kinetic sculpture. But
exactly how much engineering goes into these art forms? Well, to be blunt, much of what
makes these creatures "art" is the engineering within them. Let's take a look at some of the
engineering behind these creations.
Two Strandbeests scuttle across the beach. 5
How Strandbeests Work
The most basic element of any living organism is what powers it. For carbon-based life
forms (that's almost every living creature, including us humans), we get energy from calories,
which we get from consuming things. Of course, this food chain has to start somewhere, and
that somewhere is with plants, which get energy from the sun. However, Strandbeests aren't
creatures like you, me, or plants—they're artificial life forms. Their basic sustenance is wind.
Utilizing propellers, sails, and bellows, Strandbeests are able to move their joints and cause
chain reactions that eventually lead to walking. The basic premise of this is accomplished
through something known as Klann linkage. Klann linkage is a planar mechanism (this mean it
works across a 2D plane) that is designed to simulate the walk or the gait of a living organism.
The mechanism is made out of a primary "leg", a crank, and multiple couplers, all connected by
pivot points that form the "joints" of the leg.
The crank
Klann Linkage diagram 4
In the first (the leftmost) image in the diagram above, the right-most joint is where the
crank lies. The crank is set at 0 degrees in the first image, 90 in the next, 180 in the third, and
270 in the last. The rotation of this crank causes the other couplers to move, which in turn
cause the main leg to move. The pivot points on the main triangular piece are stationary, and
only rotate. The pivot points on the leg and extended couplers move with the rotations from
the stationary pivots, thereby causing the main leg to move out and upward, then inwards and
downward. This inward and downward motion drags the object attached to the leg forward.
When you implement many of these legs onto an object, you can get that object to move with a
spider-like walking motion.4, 5
Jansen employs a more advanced version of the Klann mechanism that has "evolved"
over the years in each new creature he creates. Much like how Charles Darwin's natural
selection has resulting in increasingly more efficient creatures, so has Jansen's practice of taking
what worked best on his previous Strandbeests and giving them to the next generation. These
evolved Klann mechanisms have evolved to be more efficient and stable, and when put into
action, their fluid motions become art forms all on their own.
Additionally, Jansen's designs also utilize
other mechanisms that mirror real-life functions.
Perhaps the most amazing feature are his
Strandbeests' "brains". Without using any kind of
electronics whatsoever, Jansen has built
rudimentary artificial intelligence into his creations.
Some of his Strandbeests are able to tell if they're
standing in water, and will reverse their walk to run
back to the dry beach dunes where they won't get
swept away. They detect water via a hollow plastic
Jansen demonstrates the Strandbeest's detection
system works when it comes in contact with a glass
of water.3
tube that trails along the ground. Wind catches in the Strandbeest's sails to make it move, and
part of this wind power also is sent through this hollow tube, which is outfitted with a simple air
valve made with PVC and water bottles. Normally, air flows through this valve with a gentle
hiss, and the pressure allows the Strandbeest to start its next step cycle. However, when water
gets into the hollow tube, the valve can sense the change in pressure, which in turn causes the
Strandbeest to stop its gait. This stop flips a "switch" in the Strandbeest's "brain" area (in reality
it's just a set of pipes that's either popped in or out). Once the "switch" is flipped, the
Strandbeest begins walking in the opposite direction, away from the dangerous water. 3
The Strandbeest's "brain", a set of pipes that have two settings: "in" and "out". 3
The Strandbeests are also able to detect
when a storm approaches. They're built with a
switch in their "brains" that counts how often the
creature's wind sails undulate. When they begin
receiving wind too quickly, there's a high chance
that there's a storm approaching. Too many
undulations per second releases a mallet-like
object that is normally tied down. This mallet
begins to pound on another switch, which deploys
At a TED conference, Jansen demonstrates how his
Strandbeest releases a mallet to root itself into the
sand.3
an anchor (in this case, a sharp, heavy spike) into
the beach sand, rooting the artificial creature in place. This ensures that the Strandbeest won't
be blown away in a storm. Someday, Jansen hopes to be able to release "herds" of these
Strandbeest onto the sandy beach dunes of his native Holland and have them live on their own.
Potential Applications
So where else can the ideas that Jansen's kinetic sculptures have explored be applied?
These "creatures" mimic complex functions like binary computing (having a "yes" and "no"
state to detect when there's a storm or water nearby) and the Klann linkage using simple, easily
available materials. We can apply these creative solutions to areas where people don't have
easy access to electronic components like microchips and silicon that are required to create
complex machinery. Much of the time, these people don't even have electricity readily
available to them. This is what makes simple, nature-powered mechanisms like those seen in
the Strandbeests have so much potential. Perhaps people in these impoverished areas can
utilize the mechanisms in Jansen's Strandbeests to create their own rudimentary computers or
security systems with simple, readily available materials like wood and other natural resources.
A possible example are simple "artificial intelligences" (binary mechanisms with 2 states:
on and off) that are triggered on and off by too much wind, rain, or sunshine. These could be
outfitted into dwellings, and might be used to manipulate windows and shutters to conserve
heat. Another application could be a home security system that can be set up to trigger an
alarm (perhaps a loud drum) late at night when people are asleep. This could be used to ward
off wild animals or unscrupulous criminals. The only limitation to these simple "technologies" is
the creativity behind the people implementing them. With proper guidance, people in
impoverished areas could be taught how to create the basics of mechanism creation, and
would probably be able to iterate upon that and learn. As a species, humans are naturally
adaptive. There's no bounds to what could be created given the proper inspiration.
Concluding Thoughts
The main takeaway we can learn from Jansen and his Strandbeests is that it the
solutions to complex solutions are right in front of our eyes. We just have to bring both leftbrain creativity (engineering) with right-brain creativity (art) together. Jansen created complex
walking mechanisms and a rudimentary binary computer with just PVC pipes. In the same way,
we may have the raw resources available to solve many of the world's complex health and
social issues, it's just a matter of putting them together in the right way.
Too often do we think that art and engineering must remain separate, and should only
be brought together when both have developed separately. Jansen offers a small bit of wisdom
on this matter: "A part of me is an engineer, who wants to map the progress of mobility," he
says. "Another part is an artist, who wants to sculpt the world around us, and give it shape."
Perhaps his most true statement though, is as follows: "The walls between art and engineering
exist only in our minds, and few have the imagination to see beyond them." 6
Sources
1. http://singularityhub.com/2010/02/18/theo-jansen-inspires-youtube-robot-creaturerevolution-video/
2. http://www.strandbeest.com/beests_storage.php
3. http://www.ted.com/talks/theo_jansen_creates_new_creatures.html
4. http://www.google.com/patents?vid=6364040
5. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b694exl_oZo
6. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcR7U2tuNoY
7. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/24/theo-jansensstrandbeests_n_1229716.html