[March 19, 2025] Theodorus Gerardus Jozef Jansen is a Dutch artist who created The Strandbeest, a mechanical sculpture that moves like a multi-legged insect. He created his first in 1990 and has since made dramatic, creative designs that amaze us.
“The walls between art and engineering exist only in our minds.” — Theodorus Gerardus Jozef Jansen
Art meets engineering in all his work. Watching videos of his works is more than simple entertainment but a wonderment. Follow this link to get an idea of what a Strandbeest looks like in action.
These moving kinetic structures, sometimes wind-propelled, resemble walking animals, which Jansen describes as “artificial life.” His models are based on a system of triangles and connecting links that convert the rotation of an axle into a stepping motion of six or more legs. This allows the strandbeesten to travel over sand much more efficiently than if it were to travel on wheels.
Constructed from PVC piping, wood, fabric airfoils, zip ties, and, in his words, “tape and spit,” Jansen’s sculptures are constantly being improved and designed to function in the sandy beach environment in which he releases them. The leg mechanisms have applications in mobile robotics and gait analysis.
While highly innovative, his sculptures also drive a curiosity in us. Whether it’s the movement, the best, the oddity and size, or our connection to life (his beasts are life-like), these mechanical devices are attractive to the human eye. I found it hard to take my eyes off the movement of a recently built Strandbeest.
I reached out to some engineer friends who specialize in mechanics, and, yes, they’d all heard of Theo Jansen. I must have triggered something in them. The art of engineering was their latest craze. Two were in the process of building one each. Thanks to Theo, the leg-foot path had been worked out. I was promised photos, but none as of this writing.
The Strandbeest is a true application of art, engineering, and, like Jansen says, “spit.”
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Truly amazing!!! Gen. Satterfield, sir, thanks for exposing us to this wonderful man.
Brilliant!!! I wish I had some of Theo’s work ethic and vision. 🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️
Got that right, Wellington 🕷️. Ha Ha Ha, love your 🕷️ spider symbols. I know from reading his blog for two years, that Gen. Satterfield is an engineer who also loves beauty and art. And he has written about the meaning of art and what it does for us psychologically. “What is Beauty?” – by Gen. Doug Satterfield
https://www.theleadermaker.com/what-is-beauty/
Read this and other articles he has written and about statues. You will gain a better understanding of where he is coming from.
I’m surprised by the art and engineering. But isn’t the very best art a surprise? I think so. Innovative.
Off topic but , except for the political Democrat Party of hate, all Americans are wildly happy that our stranded astronauts were rescued by Elon Musk ‘s SpaceX ship. Oh, Musk was told he couldn’t rescue them under the Biden-Harris failed administration. Thank God for Pres. Trump. 🇺🇸
William, absolutely nailed the communist democrats.
The few Democrats left are mentally ill. Make insane asylums great again.
I highly recommend that all readers of this leadership website go onto Amazon and get themselves a copy of Gen. Satterfield’s books while you can. My favorite is “55 Rules for a Good Life” as it spells out proven ways to live well. Hint, it’s not easy. Now, with that said, Gen. Satterfield writing about this “Strandbeest” makes lots of sense. Why? Because, exploring the world for adventure is one of Gen. S’s points on how to live well. His theme is that we must adopt responsibility for our own lives and that makes sense. And that will take us on a great adventure. Go and read the books and please leave a review on Amazon.
Very nice, thanks.
There are some Strandbeest STEM toys too. I found a few on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=strandbeests&adgrpid=1346902311381087&hvadid=84181609204030&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=92790&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvtargid=kwd-84181748893272%3Aloc-190&hydadcr=4090_13164452&mcid=0f39ebde0c9c346988d7216f53fd71b3&msclkid=65538697ceab1c3bde93e14d2a2f3bcb&tag=mh0b-20&ref=pd_sl_8x21zaxdym_e
. . . . . and I like the “spit” part. Also includes duct tape in copious quantities.
Thank you, Gen. Satterfield. I’d not heard of this man or his art-enginnering marvels.
Yusaf, I think most of us had maybe not heard of Theo Jansen either. His works might be well-known among Danes (pun here) but not so much in the rest of the West, especially in America. Hey, that’s why Gen. Satterfield is on it. He likes to give us new ideas, and if engineering is involved then it’s more likely to be something he will write about. I looked up Theo and didnt find much but a few videos that were amazing. Yep, amazing what he worked out, in particular, the footprint movement pattern that he put on his old desktop computer. Great job, Gen. Satterfield for reminding us that art is good and that the best art challenges us and judges us. In this case, Theo’s art challenges is to do something that is hard. We should accept the challenge.
Yeah, I’d never heard of him but I’d seen some of his works in photographs. Video is a far superior way to see his works.
👍 I guess I’m one of the few that had seen Theo Jansen’s works. Great stuff. 👍
… and thanks for the link to X for a video of a Strandbeest on the beech.
COOL