*** This article was originaly published in Spanish by El Gran Otro ***

Recently we've published on El Gran Otro an interview with the American kinetic sculptor Anthony Howe. This time we've decided to go further into the relation between art and movement, but we move away from the Northeast coast of the United States to focus on the suburbs of The Hague.

Some of our readers probably have seen already one of those popular videos on the Internet in which strange and complex mechanical animals made with PVC, sails and plastic bottles walk by themselves on the sand, powered by wind. They're Theo Jansen's creatures.

We're facing works of art that combine diverse disciplines and technics, such as kinetic art, physics and mechanics. Buy there's also something else. Something that has to do with grace, with the fascination of watching this disturbing-shaped automats move through the beach.

Somehow it looks like a game or even a heresy: the idea of creating a new nature. But the effect is on the public, on the spectator. To be in front of one of Theo Jansen's creations necessarily implies some degree of participation, because it's not possible to remain indifferent.

Theo is a curious guy. He studied physics at the Delft University of Technology, but he left at some point of 1974. He had other concerns: technology and art. And somehow humor.

The thing is that Jansen likes to surprise his audience. Like that time in 1979 when he built a quite convincing UFO, filled with helium, and released it over Delft. His machine must have provoked some joy among his friends and to the neighbors that were aware of the situation, but the joke wasn't so funny to the Dutch authorities. They started to receive calls from scared citizens reporting the violation of the national airspace by alien visitors.

Theo's UFO also produced light and sound. He believes it landed somewhere on Belgium. Years later he did again over Paris. We should add to the connection between art and technology a third aspect: humor. I asked him about this Orson Welles' style experiments and he confessed that:

«One of the things in life which I cannot stop doing is: fooling people. In fact, I like the uncertain balance between reality and imagination. I like to see people doubting: “Is this real?” It gives me joy somehow. At the same time, it puts our daily life in another perspective. I think art has the same function. It connects reality with imagination. Without imagination life is nothing».

In addition to the UFO episode, Theo gained some fame in the mid '80s with a surprising invention: the painting machine. This photosensitive mechanism was able to paint the silhouettes of everything that was placed in front of it. The device was attached to a wood structure that allowed it to move and create images of everything inside the room.

«Mechanics have always obsessed me», said Theo.

Jansen's approach to the kinetic art was a matter of time. Creators like the Swiss Jean Tingeley and the American George Rickey influenced him in a decisive way in his appreciation of this expressive trend. Theo is now a kinetic sculptor, without a doubt. But more than once he has publicly said that he doesn't consider himself as an artist.

I asked him about it, and he said:

«I still would answer I am an artist. Just to make it easier for people. But working on the beach, all these labels seem to be so trivial. I feel more like an Eskimo living 10.000 years ago. Not knowing what art is and not knowing what technology is and still making little sculptures and achieving technical improvements on his kayak».

The beach is an important matter to Jansen and to all the Dutch: the beach and the sea. The historical battle of the Netherlands against the waves not only largely defines the national identity, but it's also a relentless struggle that affects the Dutch's daily lives.

Year after year the erosion of the sea debilitates the consistency of the contested Dutch coast, while national and local governments build increasingly inventive barriers to stop the inexorable advance of the waters.

Theo saw a problem and created a solution. It may be not the most efficient answer, but it's certainly the most poetical.

In an article published in 1990 by the national newspaper ‘Volkskrant’ he made clear his intentions. He started talking about the problem of dunes. The wind shapes the sand and keeps the dunes in a more or less stable high. But the tide, indifferent to this process, is higher every day.

«It would be great if we had some animals that continuously remove the sand of our beaches, that cast it in the air for the wind to carry it to the dunes», he wrote. (1)

It was more than just a simple desire. It was a commitment. Theo started immediately to design and build his first sand-removing animals. His creatures would assume the patriotic task of helping save the beaches. And to do it, they only required to be fed with wind.

As we see, Theo is not a crazy scientist or an eccentric artist. We could say that he's a provider of poetical solutions for environmental problems.

The first ‘strandbeest’ Animaris Vulgaris that walked on earth did it 30 years ago. Over time, Theo created a considerable variety of automaton beings with a growing sensitivity, able to adapt to the environment. His most recent beast can detect water and avoid it.

«Sometimes it becomes more complex, but sometimes things become very simple as well. If it would more grow complex only, I would go crazy. But I would like these animals to become independent from me. They must live an autonomous life on the beach in the future».

The ‘strandbeests’ of the past become fossils inside exhibitions all over the world. There he classifies them in periods according to the material and technics used during a certain moment of his work.

When I interviewed Theo, I asked him if he had plans for the future:

«Lots of plans for the beach. That is where I am going right now. A bit stormy at the moment, but much nicer later in the week».

The beach, as we said before, is an important matter to Jansen.

Uncertainty. All of us, beyond our professions, locations and interests, agree that it's now quite impossible to make plans for the future, because we don't know when we'll be able to say that COVID-19 has been left behind and even less to say how the world will be once we raise from this pandemic.

Artists are, without a doubt, one of the social groups that suffered the most due to this global crisis. However, some are more prepared than others to face this situation.

«All exhibitions in the world have been either closed or postponed. But the last few years I built a financial buffer. So not too much of a problem. I have a lot of time now to develop my work on the beach this summer».

Having a lot of available also brings unexpected consequences. One gets more thoughtful. Theo Jansen takes refuge in his creative hyperactivity. He's committed with his crusade for saving the dunes through his aeolian creatures, but it would be wrong to assume that social distancing and the sudden closure of collective activities had not affected him at a personal level.

«Of course, this crisis resets our mind. I am thinking, like everybody, a lot about the future world. We seem to realize we are on the wrong path. We must do things differently».

The Netherlands went through an Intelligent Lockdown, a very different system that the ones applied by countries like France, Italy or Spain. The Dutch model appeals to civic responsibility. Just like Theo put it:

«Everybody has to take his own responsibility».

Despite the fact that the country is far from reaching the desired levels of collective immunity, the numbers of infected and dead are descending.

Social distancing, for the time being, doesn't seem to disturb Theo. He's concerned, as we said, about his beach fauna. His workshop is in Ypenburg, a suburb of The Hague, near Delft. It's an artificial hill where a military airport used to be. The land has survived urbanization because it «serves as a sound barrier between a highway on one side and apartment houses on the other». (2)

There's where Theo builds his kinetic herd.

«This summer – Theo announced on that 1990 article – I'm going to spare some time to build a few of these animals and in autumn I intend to release them along the coast, so they can make use of the first storms of the season. And who knows? Maybe in a few years from now the Netherlands' coastline will have a different look». (3)

30 years after its publication, Theo's article gained a prophetic value. The struggle against the sea continues, but the dunes are not lost. At least for now the coast is safe. Something has changed though on the beaches of the Northern Sea. A curious migration takes place every year near The Hague.

In spring the sand beasts leave Ypengburg and head to the sea to start a parade that lasts until the end of summer. With their multiple legs, they raise the sand that feeds the dunes.

Theo dreams with the day when his ‘strandbeests' will no longer need his assistance to reach the beach.

That day, these creatures will definitely take possession of The Hague's beaches. They will be integrated into the environment in such a way that they'll no longer need help from nobody. They'll be protected by the dunes that they helped to preserve and there'll be, indeed, a new species in Europe and a new future for the Dutch coast.

If you want to know more about Theo Jansen and his ‘strandbeests' take a look at the artist's website: https://www.strandbeest.com

If you don't want to miss his newest creations follow @strandbeests on Instagram.

Interview with Theo Jansen. May 2020.

(1) and (3) «Correplayas, el artículo de Theo Jansen que lo empezó todo» (2015). Espacio Fundación Telefónica. Madrid, Spain. October 5th, 2015. Available here: https://espacio.fundaciontelefonica.com/noticia/correplayas-el-articulo-de-theo-jansen-que-lo-empezo-todo/?ide=33719

(2) «The March of the Strandbeests». Ian Frazier for The New Yorker. 05/09/2011. Available here: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/09/05/the-march-of-the-strandbeests

All visual content used here was taken from ©Theo Jansen's website and social media profiles.