It has an elephant-like trunk, or perhaps a toucan’s beak, that helps stabilize its front. Wind-catching sails extend out from the sides like wings. Its front legs walk quickly and smoothly across the sand while its back legs send ripples through its caterpillar-like back. Those are the animals that we see in this Strandbeest. What are some of the animals that you see?
Based on the creature’s name, Animaris Mulus, its creator Theo Jansen sees a mule on the beach. It was filmed in black and white in the summer of 2017. The accompanying music: Symphony No. 5 by Gustav Mahler.
Jansen has been creating his signature, wind-fueled, kinetic sculptures from PVC pipe, wood, fabric airfoils, recycled plastic bottles, plastic tubes, and other materials since 1990. Created for beach life, he originally proposed the idea as a solution for maintaining eroding sand dunes. The creatures have since become a cultural phenomenon.
To build your own desktop-sized strandbeest from a kit, we recommend buying from Elenco on Amazon or from the artist’s site. Or build your own version from scratch. Or 3D print your own. In addition to his kits, Jansen has created a 3D printed model that doesn’t require assembly:
Watch more strandbeest videos including this profile of the Dutch artist in The New Yorker and his strandbeest on the beach in San Francisco.
via The Awesomer.
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