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Theo Jansen Quotes

Theodorus Gerardus Jozef "Theo" Jansen is a Dutch artist. In 1990, he began building large mechanisms out of PVC that are able to move on their own and, collectively, are entitled, Strandbeest. The kinetic sculptures appear to walk. His animated works are intended to be a fusion of art and engineering. He has said that "The walls between art and engineering exist only in our minds." He strives to equip his creations with their own artificial intelligence so they may avoid obstacles such as the sea, by changing course when detected. Wikipedia  

✵ 17. March 1948
Theo Jansen photo
Theo Jansen: 6 quotes1 like

Famous Theo Jansen Quotes

“The anatomy of self-propelling objects is subject to universal laws. Those of cars and animals are similar in many ways. First of all, there's the stomach. Stomachs are like petrol tanks. It takes energy to move around, and that energy must accompany its user. All self-propelling objects carry provisions with them in a sealed-off space, a stomach or a tank. Self-propelling beach animals like Animaris Percipiere have a stomach too. This consists of recycled plastic bottles containing air that can be pumped up to a high pressure by the wind.”

Theo Jansen

Source: The Great Pretender. (2007), p. 153

“In the Pregluton, there were no animals of plastic tubing yet. This initial period was marked by an absence of matter. Life then consisted exclusively of dreaming about life.”

Theo Jansen

Source: The Great Pretender. (2007), p. 9 ; Paragraph "Memory in reverse"

“The walls between art and engineering exist only in our minds, and few go beyond them.”

Theo Jansen

In advert for BMW, as cited in: Herman van den Broeck, David Vente. Beyonders: transcending average leadership. (2011). p. 52.

“I made virtual animals in the computer, life-forms subject to an artificial evolution. I also went walking a lot on the beach and in the streets of Scheveningen for inspiration for my columns. Since 1986 I have been writing pieces for de Volkskrant national daily on matters that interest me. Often these are technical things, fantasies or musings.”

Theo Jansen

Source: The Great Pretender. (2007), p. 9

“Since 1990 I have been occupied creating new forms of life. Not pollen or seeds but plastic yellow tubes are used as the basic material of this new nature. I make skeletons that are able to walk on the wind, so they don’t have to eat. Over time, these skeletons have become increasingly better at surviving the elements such as storm and water and eventually I want to put those animals out in herds on the beaches so they will live their own lives.”

Theo Jansen

Theo Jansen http://streamingmuseum.org/theo-jansen/ at streamingmuseum.org, 2014.

“Kinetic art was created by artists who pushed the boundaries of traditional, static art forms to introduce visual experiences that would engage the audience and profoundly change the course of modern art.”

Theo Jansen

Theo Jansen, quoted in: " 2015 International Kinetic Art Exhibit & Symposium - Boynton Beach, FL, USA http://intlkineticartevent.org/?page_id=107," 2015

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