Timecodestart: first black image.
First image is on 00:00:10:00
0001 00:00:29:07 00:00:31:20
If you can lift it here.
0002 00:00:44:24 00:00:46:20
Is this all right?
0003 00:00:51:22 00:00:54:04
Put it on the edge.
0004 00:00:54:07 00:00:56:01
Now move it further back.
0005 00:01:04:09 00:01:07:19
Wait, not too high. It has to go horizontal.
0006 00:01:14:00 00:01:18:20
We're pushing too much on one side.
It has to be more upright.
0007 00:01:24:22 00:01:27:18
To say goodbye is to die a little.
0008 00:01:32:02 00:01:37:23
Autumn has come and the beach animals
will migrate to the interior of the country.
0009 00:01:58:13 00:02:01:22
I've learnt a lot this summer.
0010 00:02:04:02 00:02:07:01
I've been at this beach all summer...
0011 00:02:07:04 00:02:10:14
..and this year's animal
will soon be declared a fossil.
0012 00:02:21:03 00:02:25:23
Migrating inland, and in spring
migrating back to the beach.
0013 00:02:26:01 00:02:29:19
It's like an perpetually recurring movement.
0014 00:03:29:03 00:03:31:00
This is going wrong.
0015 00:03:33:22 00:03:35:20
Yes, push it out.
0016 00:03:39:01 00:03:31:11
Let's dump it over there.
0017 00:03:47:09 00:03:49:20
Right. One down.
0018 00:03:52:00 00:03:55:16
Everyone will die. My parents simply told me.
0019 00:03:57:13 00:04:01:01
So I was going to die too, apparently.
0020 00:04:01:04 00:04:03:18
This was incredibly disappointing to me.
0021 00:04:04:21 00:04:07:18
That life would one day end.
0022 00:04:08:14 00:04:11:03
I thought it would just go on.
0023 00:04:15:08 00:04:20:06
I was about 3 or 4 years old, I think.
I could already talk.
0024 00:04:20:09 00:04:24:18
I remember looking at the blue sky
and them saying: You will die too.
0025 00:04:26:05 00:04:28:22
I wasn't too upset about my parents.
0026 00:04:29:16 00:04:34:15
But the fact that I too would die,
was a huge blow to me.
0027 00:05:54:11 00:05:57:02
Mr. Satomi, Vice Governor of Nagasaki.
0028 00:06:09:18 00:06:12:24
Mr. Ueda Taicho, Chairman of
the Japan-Netherlands Association.
0029 00:06:18:24 00:06:22:05
Is everybody ready?
0030 00:06:29:14 00:06:33:22
The Theo Jansen exhibition
"The Creature of the Dune" is open!
0031 00:06:55:05 00:06:58:23
Thank you very much.
0032 00:07:05:00 00:07:06:10
Thank you.
0033 00:07:44:23 00:07:49:24
I hope you will like this exhibition
and will learn something from it.
0034 00:07:50:02 00:07:54:13
Maybe you can find your own materials
to make something at home.
0035 00:07:54:16 00:08:01:22
Materials you find in your own environment.
0036 00:08:06:03 00:08:08:21
Thank you very much.
0037 00:08:47:24 00:08:50:10
To a child, I'm a kind of wizard.
0038 00:08:51:13 00:09:52:23
A magician.
0039 00:08:56:16 00:08:59:12
And to adults, I'm...
0040 00:09:02:02 00:09:04:14
I'm creating a new nature.
0041 00:09:06:06 00:09:09:07
I'm adding a new animal species to the world.
0042 00:09:11:04 00:09:13:14
I act as if I were God.
0043 00:09:16:00 00:09:19:16
Curiously, people like to go along
with this fantasy.
0044 00:09:20:15 00:09:22:18
They go along with my dream.
0045 00:09:28:09 00:09:31:22
A man making his fantastic creatures walk.
0046 00:09:32:00 00:09:33:19
This man is Theo Jansen.
0047 00:09:33:22 00:09:36:19
And he calls his creations "beach animals".
0048 00:09:38:18 00:09:43:17
Forgive me my lack of modesty, but when
you create evolution anew, you are a Creator.
0049 00:09:44:00 00:09:47:01
People wanna put everything in boxes
I just do what I do.
0050 00:09:47:08 00:09:51:14
People call it art,or they call it science
or they call it technology
0051 00:09:53:05 00:09:56:06
Wow! I see it walking on the beach.
0052 00:09:06:09 00:09:59:10
Fantastic! It's just like an animal.
0053 00:09:59:13 00:10:02:02
It rattles and it walks.
0054 00:10:02:12 00:10:05:14
Excuse me, what is this?
0055 00:10:05:17 00:10:09:04
It's a "Strandbeest", a beach creature.
0056 00:10:09:07 00:10:13:15
Wow, so strange and mysterious.
0057 00:10:38:18 00:10:42:20
These tubes are always protesting.
0058 00:10:45:24 00:10:49:05
They never want to do
what I want them to do.
0059 00:10:50:15 00:10:53:07
The route is unpredictable.
0060 00:10:58:23 00:11:01:11
So rather than being an artist...
0061 00:11:01:14 00:11:77:21
...I'm really a slave to the tubes' commands.
0062 00:11:11:21 00:11:14:20
Basically I'm doing
what the real Creator did.
0063 00:11:15:21 00:11:19:12
He only used proteins to create nature.
0064 00:11:42:09 00:11:46:13
I started using PVC tubes
because they were readily available.
0065 00:11:47:23 00:11:49:08
Cheap.
0066 00:11:52:04 00:11:56:08
And I wanted to use nothing but PVC tubes.
0067 00:12:08:01 00:12:10:04
This is the general idea.
0068 00:12:10:07 00:12:15:20
It needs some directional pieces of string
to ensure it hits this peg here...
0069 00:12:15:23 00:12:17:20
...knocking it into the ground.
0070 00:12:19:09 00:12:22:14
I want to make them all as light as possible...
0071 00:12:23:23 00:12:27:24
...but sometimes there are restrictions.
0072 00:12:35:05 00:12:37:10
I will fill this head with sand...
0073 00:12:39:03 00:12:44:00
...using beach material as body material.
0072 00:12:45:03 00:12:48:18
There will be four of these hammers
on either side of the animal...
0074 00:12:48:21 00:12:51:18
...meant to protect it against gales.
0075 00:13:07:02 00:13:08:10
This is the Suspendisse.
0076 00:13:08:12 00:13:09:05
Wow
0077 00:13:12:10 00:13:13:03
Looks awesome
0078 00:13:17:06 00:13:18:02
Wow, this.…
0078 00:13:18:22 00:13:20:13
…this is the new beast.
0079 00:13:24:18 00:13:25:07
Oh, my god.
0080 00:13:27:14 00:13:28:06
It looks incredible right?
0081 00:13:29:07 00:13:31:10
When the wind comes from the front
they start to move.
0082 00:13:41:15 00:13:42:06
Wow.
0083 00:13:43:22 00:13:44:10
Awesome!
0084 00:47:00:00 00:13:51:06
I love the way it is working with the architecture here.
0085 00:13:55:17 00:13:57:18
So how much longer will he get, suspense?
0086 00:13:58:23 00:14:01:05
That’s it, this is it.
0087 00:14:07:23 00:14:12:18
Theo's work is not widely known
in the context of museums en galleries.
0088 00:14:13:16 00:14:17:04
I mean the work kind of exists
as a YouTube phenomena.
0089 00:14:19:10 00:14:26:03
It hasn’t so much existed in the usual kind
of commercial gallery art fair nexus.
0090 00:14:27:06 00:14:32:09
And so for a museum to take on the level
of commitment that this takes.
0091 00:14:33:16 00:14:40:10
You know 3 to 4 years of work by a lot of different levels
of the organization.
0092 00:14:41:22 00:14:45:13
For an artist who hasn’t had that,
0093 00:14:47:13 00:14:49:05
you know, who really come from a different realm,
0094 00:14:50:07 00:14:54:14
is really something major.
0095 00:15:01:02 00:15:04:02
The idea of doing the thing outdoors
0096 00:15:04:16 00:15:09:00
with a living animal and the fossils
in the Drawing Centre would be a great idea I think
0097 00:15:10:02 00:15:11:23
It feels right to me.
0098 00:15:13:24 00:15:19:20
So we have New York, let’s summarize,
Chicago, Miami Basel,
0099 00:15:20:06 00:15:22:05
San Francisco, Quebec...
0100 00:15:23:17 00:15:27:10
PEM, The Peabody Essex Museum in...
- Boston. Six venues.
0101 00:15:28:16 00:15:34:02
So the idea would be so that we would have
a kind of a launch of the tour…
0102 00:15:34:05 00:15:35:16
….if you will a kind of teaser….
0103 00:15:37:19 00:15:40:09
...in Miami, with Art Basel.
0104 00:15:43:00 00:15:45:06
Touch, chipboard.
0105 00:15:46:23 00:15:48:19
Chipboard is OK. This is wood.
0105 00:16:24:00 00:16:27:22
You know the eternal life of the strandbeest
is a dream of eternal motion.
0107 00:16:30:10 00:16:34:16
You know walking from one end of the beach to the other
kind of marking out time and tide.
0108 00:16:37:10 00:16:38:23
I think that is such a beautiful idea.
0109 00:16:45:00 00:16:49:02
These impossible quests
we set ourselves as human beings..
0110 00:16:50:12 00:16:52:03
..is sometimes what keeps us going.
0111 00:16:55:09 00:16:57:23
One ticket, please.
- That will be 6.50 euros.
0112 00:16:59:01 00:17:03:14
So that's 23 plus 13, makes 36.
- That's expensive!
0113 00:17:08:00 00:17:11:06
One, two, three. Is it working?
Yes, it's working.
0114 00:17:11:24 00:17:16:03
Ladies and gentlemen,
I'd like to welcome you...
0115 00:17:16:06 00:17:19:19
...to the big beach animals exhibition.
0116 00:17:22:01 00:17:26:18
I'm going to explain to you about
the reproduction of the beach animals.
0117 00:17:28:06 00:17:31:22
This is the cycle of my life
and that of the beach animals:
0118 00:17:32:00 00:17:36:03
In the autumn I start on a new beach animal.
0119 00:17:36:06 00:17:40:22
In the spring it's finished, like this one,
although this one isn't quite finished.
0120 00:17:41:00 00:17:45:08
Then they go to the beach and I experiment
with them all through the summer.
0121 00:17:45:11 00:17:50:08
Then in the autumn, when the experiments
have or haven't been successful...
0122 00:17:50:11 00:17:54:04
...but have taught me a lot in either case...
0123 00:17:54:07 00:17:57:14
...I declare the animal to be extinct...
0124 00:17:57:17 00:18:01:18
...and I start on a new animal, based on
the knowledge gained over the summer.
0125 00:18:01:21 00:18:04:07
This has been going on for many years.
0126 00:18:08:02 00:18:09:19
Thank you.
0127 00:18:12:08 00:18:17:07
This year I want to concentrate on
weathering the storms on the beach.
0128 00:18:17:10 00:18:21:16
Over the past few years,
storms have been pretty destructive.
0129 00:18:21:19 00:18:26:20
I'm fed up with digging them out
and repairing them every time.
0130 00:19:08:03 00:19:10:22
I started with the beach creatures in 1990.
0131 00:19:13:09 00:19:17:17
People ask me why I started
and I have no idea.
0132 00:19:20:12 00:19:25:01
I think every human being has to invent
a story to make their life happy.
0133 00:19:36:20 00:19:39:02
This one is being squeezed together.
0144 00:19:39:05 00:19:41:20
It's being crushed.
0145 00:19:49:15 00:19:52:16
I'm clumsy, I'm not smart.
0146 00:19:54:02 00:19:56:13
There's a magical element...
0147 00:19:56:16 00:20:01:00
...to my work that captivates people.
0148 00:20:01:03 00:20:04:01
I myself don't understand how I did it.
0149 00:20:30:20 00:20:34:04
Suppose it survives the end of this week...
0150 00:20:35:05 00:20:39:15
...if I can come up with a mechanism
that keeps its nose in the wind at all times...
0151 00:20:41:01 00:20:43:07
...and it's fixed at the front...
0152 00:20:44:03 00:20:46:14
...then it will survive the storms.
0153 00:20:47:09 00:20:49:08
Which would be great.
0154 00:20:56:02 00:20:57:21
A bit to the left.
0155 00:20:58:23 00:21:01:00
Steady as she goes.
0156 00:21:24:12 00:21:27:08
You could see my beach animals as children.
0157 00:21:29:18 00:21:33:11
I'm hoping they will eventually
be able to survive on the beach.
0158 00:21:45:00 00:21:5:17
I would need a couple of million years
to achieve this.
0159 00:22:2:00 00:22:08:19
But I can imagine someone
looking at it from the outside saying:
0160 00:22:08:22 00:22:11:23
My God, this man must be really naive.
0161 00:22:12:01 00:22:15:24
Where does he get this optimism from?
0162 00:22:37:24 00:22:42:11
Theo Jansen
<The Great Pretender>
0163 00:23:05:00 00:23:08:17
My daily failures at the beach...
0164 00:23:08:20 00:23:11:04
...can really annoy me.
0165 00:23:10:07 00:23:16:05
When I have an idea and I'm trying
to execute it, I'm still quite happy.
0166 00:23:16:08 00:23:21:19
But at a certain point it becomes clear
that the idea isn't going to work...
0167 00:23:21:22 00:23:26:08
...because reality is opposing me,
is resisting.
0168 00:23:34:21 00:23:38:12
Then the inclination is to get downhearted.
0169 00:23:40:18 00:23:42:05
And that's what I do.
0170 00:23:44:02 00:23:46:11
But the next day I wake up again...
0171 00:23:46:14 00:23:50:10
...and I'm glad it went wrong, really...
0172 00:23:50:13 00:23:55:24
...because I know
that all the setbacks I encounter...
0173 00:23:56:02 00:23:58:02
...will be turned around.
0174 00:24:00:16 00:24:05:01
This is an art that my mother taught me.
0175 00:24:07:17 00:24:09:23
That's what keeps me going.
0176 00:24:12:18 00:24:17:13
She always managed
to turn negative things around somehow.
0177 00:24:27:02 00:24:28:22
What is this, Theo?
0178 00:24:29:00 00:24:30:18
It's a painting machine.
0179 00:24:30:21 00:24:36:13
It makes images of objects
you put in front of a wall.
0180 00:24:39:11 00:24:45:02
I'm attaching it to the mechanism
that will move it along the wall.
0181 00:24:46:18 00:24:51:06
So it can paint on the wall.
0182 00:24:51:09 00:24:56:16
Through this tube it can see
the variations in light...
0183 00:24:56:19 00:24:59:12
...translating them into lines on the wall.
0183 00:25:02:08 00:25:06:09
I've also done projects
that were like inventions.
0184 00:25:08:00 00:25:09:09
They were of no use.
0185 00:25:11:21 00:25:16:00
The only result was a work of art.
0186 00:25:33:03 00:25:35:13
That happens to me every time.
0187 00:25:35:16 00:25:40:00
I'm trying to make a fortune
by inventing things.
0188 00:25:40:03 00:25:45:18
Then it turns out the thing is outdated
or it doesn't work the way it should.
0189 00:25:45:21 00:25:48:24
But it does work as art.
0190 00:25:51:17 00:25:54:07
The artist hidden inside me...
0191 00:25:54:10 00:25:57:16
...does these things secretly.
0192 00:26:00:09 00:26:02:07
My first wife.
0193 00:26:02:10 00:26:05:03
She's in the box of inventions?
0194 00:26:05:06 00:26:07:14
Yes, I don't know how she got in there.
0195 00:26:09:15 00:26:14:02
This was when I studied in Delft. Physics.
0196 00:26:15:10 00:26:17:05
Did you finish your studies?
0197 00:26:17:08 00:26:20:15
No, I didn't. I became an artist instead.
0198 00:26:27:17 00:26:31:17
When did you make these?
- When I was 13 or 14 years old.
0199 00:26:32:19 00:26:35:05
We had books with pictures
of aircraft at home...
0200 00:26:35:08 00:26:38:00
...and I was always leafing through them.
0201 00:26:39:08 00:26:41:15
There was a great shortage of pilots.
0202 00:26:41:18 00:26:47:03
High school students could
train to fly a glider almost for free.
0203 00:26:47:19 00:26:49:21
So I did. Look.
0204 00:26:50:13 00:26:52:08
This was the size of the thing.
0205 00:26:54:08 00:26:58:24
I thought it would be great
to be able to take off from the beach...
0206 00:26:59:02 00:27:02:08
...and float over the city.
0207 00:27:02:11 00:27:07:22
Waving haughtily to the people below:
I can fly and you can't.
0208 00:27:08:06 00:27:09:19
Look at me!
0209 00:27:16:00 00:27:21:05
So I bought something in the USA,
a parachute with an engine.
0210 00:27:22:24 00:27:26:00
I would ask a farmer for permission...
0211 00:27:26:03 00:27:77:23
...and I would take off.
0212 00:28:33:17 00:28:36:13
I wasn't such a good pupil at primary school.
0213 00:28:38:11 00:28:42:07
I'd be staring out the window.
I was an observer.
0214 00:28:43:21 00:28:47:24
I was the eleventh child, number eleven.
0215 00:28:48:02 00:28:50:20
I was mother's boy.
0216 00:28:50:23 00:28:53:11
I wasn't a rebel at all.
0217 00:28:53:14 00:28:57:22
Compared to other kids
I was a very good boy.
0218 00:28:58:00 00:29:00:06
And I still am today.
0219 00:29:00:09 00:29:04:20
I think it's because there were never
any fights in the family, or rarely.
0220 00:29:04:23 00:29:08:16
It's not always good, of course,
you may get taken for granted.
0221 00:29:08:19 00:29:12:07
Did that give you problems?
- Yes, it's happened to me.
0222 00:29:12:10 00:29:13:19
In what way?
0223 00:29:17:13 00:29:18:18
Well...
0224 00:29:19:24 00:29:22:00
In a marriage, of course.
0225 00:29:23:18 00:29:26:03
If you always give in...
0226 00:29:26:06 00:29:30:15
...you may end up with nothing.
0227 00:29:33:11 00:29:35:19
It was hard sometimes.
0228 00:29:37:08 00:29:42:07
Fortunately I've forgotten all the details,
but it can become pretty nasty...
0229 00:29:43:15 00:29:46:20
...when both of you are under pressure...
0230 00:29:46:23 00:29:49:21
...to try and defend your territory.
0231 00:29:53:05 00:29:56:08
At the time, the children were...
0232 00:29:56:11 00:29:59:20
...about 17, 14 or 15.
0233 00:30:03:24 00:30:08:02
Then my wife Lia told me...
0234 00:30:08:05 00:30:12:16
...to go and live in my studio.
She didn't want me around anymore.
0235 00:30:12:19 00:30:16:16
I thought: I'm not going to do that.
Why should I?
0236 00:30:16:19 00:30:22:11
But lying in bed that night I thought:
Why shouldn't I? It would be great.
0237 00:30:23:04 00:30:25:18
I can work whenever I want to.
0238 00:30:30:16 00:30:32:12
And I was so happy.
0239 00:30:33:03 00:30:35:21
I thought: Why didn't I do this before?
0240 00:30:38:17 00:30:40:14
I went home each weekend.
0241 00:30:41:24 00:30:44:06
I did that for a long time.
0242 00:31:27:23 00:31:30:23
I'm actually arranging history.
0243 00:31:34:01 00:31:36:00
I'm looking back, in a way...
0244 00:31:37:17 00:31:40:12
...at the history of the beach animals.
0255 00:31:44:01 00:31:46:01
It's a kind of diary.
0256 00:31:48:03 00:31:51:11
Looking at it, I can see
what stage my work was in...
0257 00:31:51:14 00:31:54:19
...but also what stage my life was in.
0258 00:31:54:22 00:32:00:03
My kids were still small,
which caused a lot of strain.
0259 00:32:00:06 00:32:06:02
I wanted to be in two places at the same
time, which is impossible, of course.
0260 00:32:08:01 00:32:11:21
Which family was more important?
- I'm reluctant to answer that.
0261 00:32:14:13 00:32:17:15
You're afraid one of the two will punish you?
0262 00:32:19:05 00:32:21:05
Yes, the other family.
0263 00:32:28:13 00:32:30:11
I've never made any choices.
0264 00:32:31:23 00:32:36:19
I've always just gone with whatever occurred.
0265 00:32:41:07 00:32:43:05
It's in my nature.
0266 00:32:44:23 00:32:49:15
Isn't there a danger of being carried along
by the stream...
0267 00:32:49:18 00:32:52:02
...when the stream
might not be good for you?
0268 00:32:52:05 00:32:54:24
The stream has always been good for me.
0269 00:32:58:12 00:33:01:06
I guess I've just been lucky.
0270 00:33:02:11 00:33:07:04
Going all the way back to my childhood
when I couldn't become a pilot...
0271 00:33:07:07 00:33:09:18
...and I had to choose something else.
0272 00:33:09:21 00:33:13:14
All these decisions
that I didn't actually take...
0273 00:33:13:17 00:33:16:10
...but that pushed me in a certain direction...
0274 00:33:16:13 00:33:21:19
...have always brought me better things
than my original ideas.
0275 00:33:33:08 00:33:38:12
My sculptures are made of very light materials
and are powered by the wind.
0276 00:33:41:21 00:33:45:13
A part of me is an engineer who wants to map the progress
of mobility.
0277 00:33:50:13 00:33:51:17
Another part is an artist.
0278 00:33:54:11 00:33:58:02
And always I strive to push
the boundaries of what we know..
0279 00:33:58:13 00:34:01:11
..and what seems possible to us at this moment in time.
0280 00:34:03:12 00:34:07:00
The walls between art and engineering
exist only in our minds.
0281 00:34:07:20 00:34:10:08
BMW. Defining innovation.
0282 00:34:21:20 00:34:23:19
I started the project of the tour.
0283 00:34:25:13 00:34:30:05
I actually started the whole thing.
That is for sure, I have to claim that.
0284 00:34:32:00 00:34:32:23
But is was easy.
0285 00:34:34:02 00:34:37:16
I just started sending his photographs to people
to promote Theo.
0286 00:34:42:09 00:34:42:23
Excellent.
0287 00:34:45:08 00:34:47:00
OK, go ahead.
0288 00:34:48:21 00:34:51:15
Strandbeests are very much Dutch art.
0289 00:34:52:11 00:34:57:02
And I am not sure that I care if strandbeests fit
into contemporary art world.
0290 00:34:58:10 00:35:01.04
If contemporary art world is smart enough
they should catch up.
0291 00:35:01:15 00:35:08:14
There is something I really like the way the dunes look
and your hair, I want us to go closer.
0292 00:35:09:19 00:35:13:23
This is a monopoly game between dealers, buyers..
0292 00:35:15:09 00:35:17:08
..and unfortunately museums.
0293 00:35:18:07 00:35:20:15
There used to be a hole in there but now, oh my god!
0294 00:35:21:09 00:35:26:03
The problem is that Theo doesn’t participate
in that monopoly game of contemporary artworld.
0295 00:35:26:04 00:35:27:04
I don’t either.
0296 00:35:29:12 00:35:32:18
They are routines, they are rituals
you have to have to be part of.
0297 00:35:24:00 00:35:39:09
It has to do with even framing of yourself
of captioning your work..
0298 00:35:39:22 00:35:41:19
..captioning yourself.
0299 00:35:42:15 00:35:50:03
Of understanding relationships,
of participating in these relationships..
0300 00:35:51:20 00:35:55:04
..and knowing how to play
and knowing how to bluff.
0301 00:35:57:07 00:36:01:00
And I think both Theo and I
are kind if straight shooters..
0302 00:36:02:21 00:36:04:10
..we are not good at that stuff frankly.
0303 00:36:16:15 00:36:23:01
There's been a lot of interest from ordinary
people, but not so much from the art world.
0301 00:36:27:24 00:36:31:00
Which was a little disappointing.
0302 00:36:32:24 00:36:35:19
Do you resent that?
- A little, yes.
0304 00:36:39:03 00:36:42:11
Because my work is associated
with engineering.
0305 00:36:42:14 00:36:48:16
Like: "This man studied at a technological
university, so he can't be an artist."
0306 00:36:52:20 00:36:56:13
I'd love to have an exhibition
at the Tate Modern, for instance...
0307 00:36:56:16 00:36:59:22
...or at the Amsterdam Stedelijk Museum.
0308 00:37:00:00 00:37:04:17
Or the Maastricht Bonnefantenmuseum or
even the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague.
0309 00:37:15:14 00:37:18:22
It would be great if this exhibition in Miami...
0310 00:37:19:00 00:37:23:22
...led to more recognition in Holland.
0311 00:37:26:15 00:37:28:07
In my own country.
0312 00:37:29:08 00:37:31:19
My native country, my fatherland.
0313 00:38:08:15 00:38:12:20
An American billionaire
asked me to make a work of art.
0314 00:38:14:06 00:38:16:07
The first ideas.
0315 00:38:17:00 00:38:22:18
So I suggested making
a huge rhinoceros-like beast...
0316 00:38:22:21 00:38:28:23
...20 metres tall
and weighing at least 50 tons...
0317 00:38:29:22 00:38:34:00
...yet still able to walk powered by wind.
0318 00:38:34:03 00:38:36:22
It's like a walking house.
0319 00:38:39:13 00:38:43:12
Rhinoceros in the desert.
- So it's a huge project?
0320 00:38:43:20 00:38:48:00
It will cost at least ten million dollars,
as far as we can tell now.
0321 00:38:50:10 00:38:52:15
This is a dream I've always had.
0322 00:38:52:18 00:38:56:21
So it opened the door for me.
I thought: This will be my chance...
0323 00:38:56:24 00:39:01:05
...to realize this within my lifetime...
0324 00:39:01:08 00:39:04:02
...building such a huge thing.
0325 00:39:27:02 00:39:32:18
20 metres tall, just imagine, that's
really gigantic. And for this to walk.
0326 00:39:35:03 00:39:38:06
That's bigger than a dinosaur.
0327 00:39:38:09 00:39:42:08
So even in a historical sense it's massive.
0328 00:39:43:08 00:39:50:00
And in terms of importance
in the history of evolution...
0329 00:39:52:12 00:39:56:16
...I think this could be world news.
0330 00:40:00:21 00:40:04:10
I'm not sure if he wants
this more open construction...
0331 00:40:04:23 00:40:08:00
...which makes it look a bit friendlier.
0332 00:40:08:03 00:40:12:09
So I sent him this video,
showing an open construction walking...
0333 00:40:19:17 00:40:22:07
...and the same construction closed.
0334 00:40:56:12 00:40:58:22
This has to be impressive.
0335 00:41:00:00 00:41:03:05
This is my chance to leave a monument
on this earth.
0336 00:41:03:08 00:41:06:16
Like those French presidents.
I've got that too.
0337 00:41:06:19 00:41:11:16
I've been stricken with the same disease.
0338 00:41:33:08 00:41:38:24
It was wonderful to have this freedom
to be able to work during the week.
0339 00:41:45:07 00:41:49:06
And I continued to live separately,
as it suited me really well.
0340 00:41:52:02 00:41:54:18
But at a certain point…
0341 00:41:54:21 00:42:00:14
...Lia didn't want me to come around
at the weekend anymore.
0342 00:42:05:14 00:42:07:11
So then we divorced.
0343 00:42:13:02 00:42:17:07
That's when I rented a flat
here in Scheveningen.
0344 00:42:18:16 00:42:20:20
Not far from where I grew up.
0345 00:42:21:11 00:42:23:03
Right on the beach.
0346 00:42:30:15 00:42:34:08
Returning to my place of origin...
0347 00:42:35:02 00:42:37:01
...has had a great impact.
0348 00:42:40:18 00:42:44:08
I'm re-experiencing my childhood.
0349 00:43:50:13 00:43:53:00
OK done let’s get the next one.
0350 00:43:59:13 00:44:03:04
You would always have a couple of people
demonstrating strandbeests,
0351 00:44:03:07 00:44:09:19
One to demonstrate, one to take care of maintenance.
0352 00:44:09:20 00:44:12:11
Oh yes of course it is very complex.
0353 00:44:13:12 00:44:17:22
And it is your first tour of the US,
solotour of the strandbeests.
0354 00:44:19:11 00:44:21:07
Here will be the strandbeests parading.
0355 00:44:22:11 00:44:25:15
So these are the connections between the Westside of
Manhattan..
0356 00:44:26:04 00:44:27:23
..to the Eastside of Manhattan.
0357 00:44:28:14 00:44:32:07
Everyone will come both from the Eastside
and the Westside..
0358 00:44:33:01 00:44:36:17
..will come to our waterfront.
This is where we will be.
0359 00:44:36:19 00:44:40:20
It will never be less beautiful when you come
for the tour.
0360 00:44:42:04 00:44:45:13
And it is thrilling to have the partnership
with Peabody Essex Museum..
0361 00:44:46:17 00:44:52.12
..to really bring the artistic and the meaning of what
the strandbeests are to us..
0362 00:44:53:08 00:44:59:16
..as objects, as science, as engineering, as beauty,
and then art.
0363 00:44:59:23 00:45:02:07
It is a good idea because we have strandbeests enough,
0364 00:45:02:23 00:45:06:11
I mean there are 22 containers full of strandbeests and
fossils.
0365 00:45:07:12 00:45:10:05
We have lots of strandbeests to put here.
0366 00:45:23:11 00:45:25:24
New York is the top of the world, of course.
0367 00:45:31:23 00:45:33:22
Yes, that would be fantastic.
0368 00:45:35:03 00:45:37:20
What artist wouldn't think so?
0369 00:45:51:11 00:45:57:10
Even if this trip wouldn’t end in a succes
then I open my own museum on the beach.
0370 00:45:58:00 00:45:59:02
That’s a good idea.
0371 00:45:59:21 00:46:06:03
I call it just the biggest museum of the world
and how many square meters is that on my beach.
0372 00:46:06:17 00:46:09:21
You love being on the beach?
Yes so I can on the beach..
0373 00:46:09:24 00:46:12:22
..and on Google maps it’s already called
Theo Jansen beach
0374 00:46:13:07 00:46:15:06
Really? I didn’t know that.
Yes.
0375 00:46:15:09 00:46:16:06
Are you serious?
Yes.
0376 00:46:17:23 00:46:19:08
In Scheveningen?
In Scheveningen yes.
0377 00:46:20:13 00:46:21:10
Oh my god.
Yes.
0378 00:46:23:05 00:46:26:10
The US can come to Europe
and visit my museum on the beach.
0379 00:46:48:02 00:46:50:10
I think tonight will be crucial.
0380 00:46:51:01 00:46:54:18
It's not just any old people..
0381 00:46:54:22 00:46:57:23
...that gets invited to a night like this.
0382 00:46:58:24 00:47:01:21
So I'm afraid I'm going to have to sell myself.
0383 00:47:05:00 00:47:09:12
We also want to set up an area
where people can understand the evolutionary principles..
0384 00:47:10:13 00:47:13:07
..as we all evolve to a changing environment.
0385 00:47:14:05 00:47:17:10
It has been so marvelous working with you so far Theo
and Lena..
0386 00:47:17:20 00:47:21:15
..and we are really looking forward to the next steps
on this journey.
0387 00:47:23:00 00:47:23:22
Likewise.
0388 00:47:32:15 00:47:40:08
In a lot of your creations you use sails
What is the purpose of the sails?
0389 00:47:41:22 00:47:48:02
In the case that the sails they pump,
so they pump up the air in the bottles..
0390 00:47:49:03 00:47:53:13
..but they also catch the wind and they walk
in the same direction of the wind.
0391 00:47:55:16 00:47:57:10
Like a sailboat?
Just like a sailboat yes.
0392 00:47:58:08 00:48:02:10
And they are connected with these pumps
and they pump air into soda bottles..
0393 00:48:02:20 00:48:03:20
..to high pressure.
0394 00:48:04:18 00:48:09:09
And you can use this energy for all kind of things,
so they can walk even when the wind is gone.
0395 00:48:16:15 00:48:23:00
This is the beginning of the brain of the beach animals.
The animal can take decisions on the beach.
0396 00:48:23:23 00:48:26:00
It can count its steps
so it knows where it is on the beach
0397 00:48:27:05 00:48:30:20
And now is the idea that they just walk with the wind
parallel to the coast..
0398 00:48:31:16 00:48:34:16
..as far as they can go, usually the harbor stops them.
0399 00:48:35:16 00:48:40:13
Then they have to wait until the wind has turned
and then they run back on the Dutch coast.
0400 00:48:41:05 00:48:44:05
And they can do it in their own before I die I would say.
0401 00:48:55:23 00:48:59:11
When did you create your first working strandbeest?
0402 00:49:00:20 00:49:01:22
I still have to do that.
0403 00:49:05:01 00:49:06:21
Because every time I work on problems..
0404 00:49:08:13 00:49:16:03
..the walking problem is more or less solved now
and also the pumping problem, the feeling problem..
0405 00:49:17:22 00:49:22:23
..but to make it operational as a working beast on the beach
is still in the future..
0406 00:49:25:05 00:49:26:14
..because I have to nurse them all the time.
0407 00:49:34:18 00:49:40:03
Today I want to see how the animal behaves
in the sea. I've never done that before.
0408 00:49:41:16 00:49:45:15
To see how it's directed by the waves.
0409 00:50:01:01 00:50:06:04
The idea, once it enters the water,
is for the waves to direct it...
0410 00:50:06:07 00:50:08:20
...back to the shore.
0411 00:50:10:22 00:50:16:20
That would be useful. The animals wouldn't
drown during their hikes along the beach.
0412 00:50:41:15 00:50:45:05
I don't know what it is about these animals
that makes me happy.
0413 00:50:46:12 00:50:51:06
They're an illusion,
leaving me with a blissful feeling.
0414 00:50:55:19 00:50:57:21
There goes a leg.
0415 00:51:13:12 00:51:16:20
I believe in something and...
0416 00:51:17:19 00:51:19:10
...I can't help it.
0417 00:51:19:13 00:51:24:10
It's not that I don't want to see it.
No, I live with this...
0418 00:51:24:13 00:51:29:07
...with this belief in these things.
0419 00:51:30:13 00:51:34:02
You're not living with a pretend belief?
0420 00:51:34:05 00:51:37:01
As if it will happen, as if they will come alive?
0421 00:51:37:04 00:51:39:10
That's hard to say.
0422 00:51:39:13 00:51:43:17
I have to say there is an element of doubt...
0423 00:51:43:20 00:51:46:24
...as to whether or not it's a reality.
0424 00:51:48:16 00:51:53:09
In that sense my belief is not that solid.
0425 00:51:54:21 00:51:58:20
Obviously certain aspects work,
there's no way around that.
0426 00:51:58:23 00:52:03:09
And many aspects don't work,
there's no way around that either.
0427 00:52:04:06 00:52:10:14
But it is something I carry on doing,
because it...
0428 00:52:13:05 00:52:16:11
...because there's nothing else I can do,
I guess.
0429 00:52:22:07 00:52:25:01
The self-deceiver, you could say.
0430 00:52:26:14 00:52:30:19
Deceiving myself to make progress,
ultimately.
0431 00:52:53:00 00:52:56:16
I don't know if you've noticed,
but I'm a little busy now.
0432 00:52:57:21 00:53:00:16
How busy?
- Extremely busy.
0433 00:53:01:11 00:53:05:19
Taking on too much, saying yes too often.
0434 00:53:07:14 00:53:10:22
Thinking it will be all right, but...
0435 00:53:11:00 00:53:13:09
Why is it you say yes too often?
0436 00:53:13:12 00:53:17:06
I don't want to disappoint people,
that's my problem.
0437 00:53:46:11 00:53:50:02
Trevor, the last piece I didn’t hear, but..
0438 00:53:51:15 00:53:53:13
..I guess you want me to be 3 weeks in the US?
0439 00:53:54:13 00:53:58:06
Yes. We have an installationphase,
we need time to train..
0440 00:53:59:03 00:54:05:16
..we want to do some pop-ups and all the events
and stuff that will go on around the opening.
0441 00:54:06:19 00:54:09:10
It looks we gonna need you here right at the end of August.
0442 00:54:10:12 00:54:11:09
That’s what I thought already.
0443 00:54:12:02 00:54:16:01
But I have my works to do on the beach
in the summer..
0444 00:54:17:04 00:54:28:00
..and I am obliged to myself to keep my work authentic
and not only drift on the succes of my work.
0445 00:54:29:20 00:54:39:21
At least could you send me a sort of a schedule?
What else did you have in mind to ask from me?
0446 00:54:40:12 00:54:41:20
Ah, Theo.
0447 00:54:44:00 00:54:49:16
Well this is certainly more than usually you do
with an opening for an exhibition right?
0448 00:54:52:00 00:55:00:00
And I am not sure how I contract wise I am obliged to do
this.
Do you?
0449 00:55:00:21 00:55:07:14
Here is the thing Theo,
this is requiring like a huge investment on our part..
0450 00:55:07:24 00:55:14:04
..also to make this work, for you to make this US tour a
huge success.
0451 00:55:14:14 00:55:17:08
Of course I would like to do that as well, but..
0452 00:55:17:11 00:55:23:11
You had sort of proposed an idea that maybe
you would start a new species.
0453 00:55:24:12 00:55:26:21
A beast that lives in museums.
0454 00:55:28:12 00:55:32:04
We had understood that we would be getting the next new
beast..
0455 00:55:33:00 00:55:36:21
..and you had a different understanding.
0456 00:55:37:23 00:55:44:14
But the only thing is I cannot promise
that I have 2 new beasts at the end of July.
0457 00:55:52:22 00:55:54:10
Yes, the contract.
0458 00:55:56:10 00:56:01:06
Seeing it on paper makes it so definitive,
so I got a bit anxious.
0459 00:56:03:03 00:56:06:03
I thought: What have I promised this time?
0460 00:56:09:05 00:56:12:15
That the animal would start walking
at a certain wind speed...
0461 00:56:12:18 00:56:15:01
...while it's only just been born.
0462 00:56:16:02 00:56:19:06
So there are still plenty of teething troubles.
0463 00:56:47:10 00:56:52:10
The worst case scenario would be that all of
the USA has come to watch the animal...
0464 00:56:53:13 00:56:57:03
...and then it fails to walk.
0465 00:57:01:18 00:57:03:06
This is all wrong.
0466 00:57:07:19 00:57:11:19
Those people only think
about their exhibition, of course.
0467 00:57:13:19 00:57:15:24
I have to beware of this.
0468 00:57:16:02 00:57:22:18
Of becoming the slave
of all those people working with me...
0469 00:57:22:21 00:57:25:21
...to avoid having arguments with them.
0470 00:57:26:04 00:57:29:17
Who determine your life?
- Yes.
0471 00:57:29:20 00:57:36:17
I have to make sure over the coming years
to keep this balance.
0472 00:57:37:17 00:57:40:09
If I don't, I will go under.
0473 00:58:02:03 00:58:06:02
I can't hold beach sessions for the public.
0474 00:58:08:20 00:58:11:06
It's just too difficult.
0475 00:58:18:02 00:58:21:11
The beach animals
can't fulfil such expectations.
0476 00:58:25:14 00:58:27:14
And I'm no animal trainer.
0477 00:58:30:03 00:58:33:16
It's not like putting my head
in a circus lion's mouth.
0478 00:58:36:01 00:58:38:05
Beach animals will bite it off.
0479 00:59:04:23 00:59:07:11
Art Basel in Miami Beach is...
0480 00:59:08:20 00:59:13:17
..one the most important meeting places
for what you might call the art world.
0481 00:59:16:00 00:59:23:07
You can buy 10 or 20 million dollar art objects
you can also buy graffiti art.
0482 00:59:25:24 00:59:33:01
So you a lot of the very tough art collectors,
you have curators, gallerists, journalists, media.
0483 00:59:33:23 00:59:37:21
It really is one of the most important
meeting places in the United States.
0484 00:59:46:06 00:59:47:16
I am enjoying it very much.
0485 01:00:48:20 01:00:54:18
Now I have been dreaming of bringing the
strandbeests here to Amerika, for 3 years..
0486 01:00:55:22 01:00:56:20
..Lena 7..
0487 01:00:58:00 01:01:03:12
..but nothing compared to the dream of Theo Jansen,
who has been dreaming strandbeests..
0488 01:01:05:00 01:01:06:09
..for almost a quarter of a century.
0489 01:01:08:05 01:01:10:18
Would you please welcome the wonderful Theo Jansen.
0490 01:01:11:08 01:01:14:02
Merci beaucoup, thank you Trevor.
0491 01:01:16:13 01:01:23:17
What you see here is the animal which I worked with last
summer on the beach in Scheveningen in Holland.
0492 01:01:24:10 01:01:29:23
I would like to try to make it live again
for a few moments by letting it walk.
0493 01:01:38:03 01:01:39:15
Let me see what that is.
0494 01:01:42:20 01:01:44:10
Because there is no wind up there.
0495 01:01:55:21 01:01:56:15
Come up.
0496 01:02:14:11 01:02:15:02
That’s wonderful.
0497 01:02:21:16 01:02:24:24
While moving it pumps the air into the bottles.
0498 01:02:25:17 01:02:27:07
Which we do now with the compressor.
0499 01:02:34:19 01:02:37:13
The beasts wil survive on their own.
0500 01:02:40:03 01:02:46:18
I can leave the planet knowing that
I will live on on the beach forever.
0501 01:02:47:10 01:02:54:15
And so my ashes will be thrown on that beach
and this is in fact the nucleus of my work.
0502 01:03:12:20 01:03:14:08
Look at these nice tubes.
0503 01:03:17:05 01:03:19:16
It's truly a monument.
0504 01:03:19:19 01:03:23:08
It has the weight of a monument.
0505 01:03:24:13 01:03:26:10
It's like a stone...
0506 01:03:28:09 01:03:29:18
A gravestone.
0507 01:03:33:24 01:03:38:02
I don't want to see this
as the end of my career or my life.
0508 01:03:38:05 01:03:41:00
Because it is a kind of retrospective.
0509 01:03:41:03 01:03:45:10
Like someone who's about to die and
sees his whole life pass before his eyes.
0510 01:04:31:19 01:04:35:22
The last message I got about it
was a couple of months ago.
0511 01:04:36:00 01:04:39:20
The business office informed me...
0512 01:04:39:23 01:04:44:09
...that the plan was "on hold".
0513 01:04:44:12 01:04:46:02
Meaning, in some drawer.
0514 01:04:59:09 01:05:03:17
The cockpit was at the front.
So these are all like Star Wars versions.
0515 01:05:03:20 01:05:06:10
You could walk on top here.
0516 01:05:06:13 01:05:08:18
He was attracted by the megalomania of it.
0517 01:05:08:21 01:05:13:18
But as it progressed,
it became less Star Wars-like.
0518 01:05:13:21 01:05:19:06
I wanted to create something new,
not associated with those movies.
0519 01:05:19:09 01:05:23:10
That may be why he lost interest.
0520 01:05:26:06 01:05:27:21
Disappointing.
0521 01:06:23:15 01:06:27:00
Not much has happened
since the Miami Art Fair.
0522 01:06:28:16 01:06:34:06
They had hoped, following museums
in Chicago and San Francisco...
0523 01:06:34:09 01:06:38:09
...to interest museums in cities
like Los Angeles and New York.
0524 01:06:40:07 01:06:42:07
But that didn't work out.
0525 01:06:44:11 01:06:47:21
Yet those are important cities in the USA.
0526 01:06:53:19 01:06:55:19
Of course I dream.
0527 01:06:56:21 01:07:01:06
I dream of reaching a lot of people
over there.
0528 01:07:03:18 01:07:06:15
But if that turns into a failure...
0529 01:07:06:18 01:07:09:21
...it's just a stroke of bad luck.
0530 01:07:09:24 01:07:12:22
I'll find another dream.
0531 01:07:13:22 01:07:17:18
So the bad stuff just ricochets off you,
it's transformed into...
0532 01:07:17:21 01:07:22:11
Into something that was meant to be.
0533 01:07:37:09 01:07:39:24
If I look at where it's got me...
0534 01:07:40:05 01:07:43:03
...it's not bad at all, a character like mine.
0535 01:07:59:09 01:08:01:23
It's never been better than it is now.
0536 01:08:05:13 01:08:08:24
After Lia had bought her own home...
0537 01:08:09:02 01:08:11:09
...she really started to miss me.
0538 01:08:18:05 01:08:20:16
And now we're very happy again.
0539 01:08:25:00 01:08:26:17
Yes, it's a fairy tale.
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