Instructor: Zach Danson
Wednesday, July 9th
1pm - 5pm
1 session

We will build the beast, and then bring it to the beach and watch the creation walk!
This is the StrandBeast, named Ordis, that will be coming with Theo Jansen’s son Zach, from the Netherlands to Truro!

Learn about Theo Jansen’s journey and how he came to create the incredible StrandBeasts Theo Jansen studied physics at the University of Delft for seven years. He did not graduate but became an artist. He painted until 1980. In that year he surprised the city of Delft by having a flying saucer hover above it. This UFO had a diameter of four meters, stayed in the air thanks to the light gas helium and caused a stir in the city. The VPRO-TV (Dutch television) made a report of it, which was broadcast four days after the launch. Jansen then started building machines. He built the painting machine: a light-sensitive paint sprayer that painted photographic images on a wall. 

Since 1990, artist Theo Jansen has been busy creating new forms of life. The basic material of his nature is not protein like in existing nature, but electrical conduit (yellow). He makes skeletons from it that can walk. They are a kind of animal. They get their energy from the wind; so they do not need to eat. Over time an evolution has taken place, which is visible in the successive generations. Ultimately, he wants to release these animals onto the beaches, where they will lead a life of their own.

Theo Jansen was a columnist for the Volkskrant for 22 years. He had a solo exhibition at the Kunsthal Rotterdam 2003, at the Institute of Contemporary Art in London 2006, Hibya Tokyo 2009, National Science Museum in Seoul Korea 2010. He also exhibited at the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid (2008) and at Massmoca North Adams Massachusetts He wrote five books Zogenaamd Ik (Bzztoh 1986), Klimmen in Lucht (SUN 1997), Strandbeesten 2003, De Grote Fantast (010-publishers 2008), Strandbeesten the new generation.

Interviews were published in Wired, New Scientist, Popular Science.

Students are invited to attend our POT LUCK picnic, 12pm at Castle Hill. Please come and enjoy a hamburger, veggie burger, or hot dog & bring a dish to share before your StrandBeast adventure begins!