[art/eng] Strandbeests even cooler up close
I have been remiss! My sweetie took me to see the Strandbeest exhibit at the PEM, and I have not told you about it.
It turns out to my considerable surprise that the Strandbeests are even more cool up close. I had been wondering vaguely about their construction: it turns out they're made of heat-molded beige PVC; the resultant joints and members winds up looking amazingly quasi-organic, sort of like wood, and sort of like rawhide, and sort of like bone.
The exhibit is super hands-on. There is a demo with one of the airpressure-propelled beests, and when it's not performing in that, patrons get to get to play with it, pushing it about the floor. There's another beest there for poking and prodding. The one docent we talked to is wildly enthusiastic about the Strandbeests, and has the sort of depth of knowledge about all things Strandbeest that a proper geek has; he welcomes all questions, including highly technical ones.
There's models and variant beests and design documents on display. There's lots and lots of A/V material to take in, Jansen talking about his work, other commenters talking about his work, etc. There's science-museum-like exhibits allowing patrons to interact with components such as pistons and legs, and there's a huge wall-mounted display of "bones": a vast profusion of strandbeest component parts, looking much like an archaeology display.
So: highly recommended. The exhibit is part of regular PEM admission; there is no additional fee.
It turns out to my considerable surprise that the Strandbeests are even more cool up close. I had been wondering vaguely about their construction: it turns out they're made of heat-molded beige PVC; the resultant joints and members winds up looking amazingly quasi-organic, sort of like wood, and sort of like rawhide, and sort of like bone.
The exhibit is super hands-on. There is a demo with one of the airpressure-propelled beests, and when it's not performing in that, patrons get to get to play with it, pushing it about the floor. There's another beest there for poking and prodding. The one docent we talked to is wildly enthusiastic about the Strandbeests, and has the sort of depth of knowledge about all things Strandbeest that a proper geek has; he welcomes all questions, including highly technical ones.
There's models and variant beests and design documents on display. There's lots and lots of A/V material to take in, Jansen talking about his work, other commenters talking about his work, etc. There's science-museum-like exhibits allowing patrons to interact with components such as pistons and legs, and there's a huge wall-mounted display of "bones": a vast profusion of strandbeest component parts, looking much like an archaeology display.
So: highly recommended. The exhibit is part of regular PEM admission; there is no additional fee.