Theo Jansen Quotes

I make skeletons that are able to walk on the wind, so they don't have to eat ... eventually I want to put these animals out in herds on the beaches, so they will live their own lives.

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 think the Netherlands will become one big city at a point. It is inevitable when you live in a country with so many people. You cannot afford to leave nature as it is. Some people believe that the dunes should be left in their original state, but I think it's strange to let things become how they were 500 years ago.

I liked science very much. A science teacher in high school inspired me, and because of him, I began studying science at the university. But when I got there ... well, the subject still attracted me a lot, but I had to do all these exams, and it was just like working in an office. I couldn't stand that.

I can be fascinated with very little things. The clouds stimulate my imagination, and sometimes I just sit somewhere and go on dreaming for a long time. Your head is also a computer. When you're dreaming, you are simulating a world in which you are living.

The Strandbeest is a self-replicating 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.

The walls between art and engineering exist only in our minds.

Of course I prefer to have nature around me, but it doesn't have to be with the exact original vegetation for nostalgic reasons. Nature is moving and making new things.