Elenco Strandbeest User Manual
Page 7
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Skeletal structures, nerves, and cells:
Conditions inevitable for a life form....
Jansen: Some time in the last 20 years, I made my beests
using wood and steel. Those beests are satisfying work for
me but they are lacking something at the same time. I call
those years my "affair period" because my attention
deviated from my beloved yellow pipes. The yellow pipes
are the irreplaceable love of my life. I am just like Don
Quixote. I am obsessed with the yellow pipes even
though people laugh at me.
Beside yellow pipes, I use urethane tubes for the nervous
system. It distributes air as information signals to the various
parts of body. Unfortunately, urethane tubes are not
available in the consumer market. I order them directly from
the manufacturers.
Interviewer: You make pipes into specially formed parts
and call them cells. How many different cells do you have?
Jansen: There are about 15 cells, though some are not used
in later beests.
Interviewer: How do you define nervous system in
strandbeests?
Jansen: Real animals transmit electrical signals through the
nervous system. I use air for signal transmission in my
beests. In each cell, there is a signal sender and signal
receiver parts. The picture above shows some of the devices
used to construct the beests' nervous systems. A series of
pistons are used to send signals through a nervous system.
A piston is made using two pipes with different diameters
and has a valve inside. Let's call the state "1" when the valve
is open and "0" when the valve is closed. I connect the
pistons in series using urethane tubes so that the valve
position of one piston to the next always becomes the
opposite. When air flows into the first piston and the valve is
closed, the internal pressure rises and pushes the valve
open. As soon as the first piston's valve opens, the second
piston's valve closes and the internal pressure starts building
until it will open that valve. This chain of actions sends binary
signals made of 0 and 1. Pistons stuck at 1 (valve stays open)
and stuck at 0 (valve stays closed) will not transmit signals.
Interviewer: How did you come up with the "holy
numbers" which determine ratios between the lengths of
leg segments?
Jansen: The walk of living creatures involves many autono-
mous movements. I examined many animals walking. The
feet of an animal move parallel to the ground and lift up at
some point. The same patterns repeat for forward and
backward walking. The picture below shows the tracing of
a foot motion.
In order to recreate this motion, I have to use linkage. I used
my ATARI computer to simulate the link mechanism that
operates just like an animal leg. I determined the ideal
ratios between the lengths of pipe segments that make up
one leg. These 13 numbers are my holy numbers.
holy numbers:
Attached a pencil at
the tip of Jansen's link
mechanism to trace
the motion of the foot.
I call this device a "liar". Let me explain how it
works. There are three liars, A, B, and C, linked
together. First, A sends a signal "1" but B trans-
mits "0". B is lying. Now, C receives the signal "0"
and makes itself the "1" state. The original
information that A sent was received by C
correctly. A lie about a lie came back to the truth.
When you look at each unit, it always sends a
false signal to the next, hence, "liar".
I believe that if I can link many liars, I can make a
system that functions as a brain. The beests'
nerves transmit binary information (0s and 1s), so
I say that the beest's nerves are a digital device,
just like a computer. There are all sorts of possi-
bilities for using this device. For example, I can
give a beest a step counter function so the beest
can know how many steps it took to get to the
beach.
Jansen shows
liars. Liars
consist of pipes,
pistons, and
valves.
Interviewer: You make your own tools to
modify plastic pipes. Is that true?
Jansen: I love to think. I am always thinking about some-
thing, so it is natural for me to come up with designs for
my own tools. Even the ones that I had to order out to be
made, I came up with the original design.
To make one strandbeest, I spend hours cutting and
modifying numerous plastic tubes. This simple work is
rather monotonous, but I don't hate simple physical work.
Cutting pipes and making rings get me into a medita-
tional state. I often come up with new ideas during these
calm times.
I sometimes hear the pipes talking to me. "I want to be
shaped this way." "You should process that way." I try to
listen to them carefully. The parts that are made accord-
ing to their opinions often become very functional and
well matched with the rest of the design.
Interviewer: Even your tools are made of the same plastic
pipes and operate using compressed air. You really are in
love with the tubes.
Jansen: This cutting tool is made of plastic tubes. I have
been using this for a very long time but never had any
trouble. Air is a great energy source. I can conveniently
vary the speed by controlling the air pressure.