Strandbeests - large beach creatures.
They are Impressive, they move elegantly and are totally mesmerizing. They look like drawings of life, like playful designs made by creators of worlds.
These impressive giant creatures, made of PVC rods and operated only by the power of wind, move in such an organic way, that makes the observer feel that he is looking at living creatures.
I don't really remember when my fascination with them began, (it seems that this too was a discovery of my sharp-eyed Assaf) there is no doubt however, it lingers on and even grows stronger as the years go by.
Responsible for these magnificent creations, is a man called Theo Jansen, who seems fascinated with the idea no less (probably even much, much more...). He has been creating these wonderful animals since the 1990s, following an idea he had - to create animal skeletons that would move on their own and help build sand dunes, to protect the coastlines of the Netherlands.
He says that he planned on playing with this idea for a year, but it seems that the idea caught on and he continues to play, improve, and experiment to this day.
His ambition is to create herds of such creatures that will roam the beaches independently, but for now, he says that he creates a new specie about once a year and ends certain species after several seasons.
There are many YouTube videos that show the "beasts" and their evolution over the years.
I highly recommend going to the project's website, it has lots of information. Among other things, you can learn about upcoming exhibitions around the world and even beach shows that he organizes several times each year.
Although we planned on traveling to the shores of Holland last summer to participate in the summer events, the coronavirus changed our plans a bit.
What we did do was purchase a kit for building a miniature home model (the relevant post is right here)
I also strongly recommend looking at Theo Jansen's TED talk. I’m not sure it can be a true substitute for seeing the real thing with your own eyes, but it is very interesting by itself.
If any of you have seen them live, and have experiences to tell, as a groupie, I would be very happy to hear