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Theo Jansen Discusses Why He Hates The Wind And Is Inspired By Evolution

The man behind the galloping Strandbeests talks about his wind-harnessing creatures.

Theo Jansen from Salazar on Vimeo.

Theo Jansen is known for making wind-powered sculptures from plastic tubing and bottles, whose skeletal forms roam freely across beaches, no doubt freaking out unsuspecting sun-dwellers and enthralling the odd child. In the short film above, directed by Salazar, he discusses his reasons for making these kinetic beasts and one of them happens to be the miracle of evolution, inspiring him to make a miracle himself.

As well as being influenced by Darwin’s brainchild, he’s a man who struggles for his art, relating his daily battles with the muse as he continues his life’s work of creating and maintaining his incredible Strandbeests. And he’s also a man who, surprisingly for what he does, hates the wind, describing it as an awful, capricious phenomenon. He cuts an eccentric figure, but that’s exactly what you want him to be.

[via Beyond the Beyond]

@stewart23rd