cinating navigational mechanism
that relies solely on the softness of
sand. This clues them in on how
far they are away from the sea. You
must realize — these animals are
technically blind and deaf — they
cannot hear or see the sea.
I’ve also thought a lot about the
reproduction of these animals.
Imagine these Strandbeests making copies of themselves simply
by feeding them plastic tubes. I’m
sure this is possible, but I need a
few more million years to make
that a reality.
Today, Strandbeests have an
ability to multiply that I wasn’t
aware of in 2007. Let me explain.
The leg system of the beach animals works because of a combination of certain lengths of tubes. Because of the proportion of lengths,
the animals walk smoothly. You
could say that this range of numbers is their genetic code. I published this genetic code on my website and since then, hundreds of
MORE ON
TED WEEKENDS
WENT SENTIENT A.I.
BECOMES REALITY
HUFFINGTON
06.23.13
THEO
JANSEN
Voices
HOW TO IGNORE
THE MEANING
OF LIFE
Strandbeests have turned
into migration animals, and the
step counter gives them an idea
of where they are.”
students, especially in the United
States, have been able to produce
their own Strandbeests. (Search
YouTube for “theo jansen mechanism” and you will find them.)
You may argue that humans do
this replication, but I see it differently. The Strandbeest is a selfreplicating meme, a brain virus. It
infects the student’s brain. In fact,
the Strandbeest abuse students for
their reproduction. For two years,
this reproduction fell into a flow
acceleration. Now, 3D printers produce walking mini Strandbeests.
They are born, not assembled, and
walk on the table — which
you can see here.
Theo Jansen is an artist and
creator of the Strandbeest.
A selection of the week’s related blogs
HEADLINES TO VIEW BLOGS ABOUT THIS WEEK’S THEME
THE SPARK OF
IMAGINATION
GENERATION
ROOMBA
MEET THE
HONGERBEEST