Window presentation: Theo Jansen

25 January - 18 March 2018
Location: window Stroom Den Haag, Hogewal 1-9
On view: 24/7 from the street

Artist Theo Jansen has been awarded the Culture Prize of The Hague for 2018. The city honours Jansen for the outstanding work he has delivered to the Arts, with The Hague city as his base and the beach as his working place. Jansen has achieved recognition primarily for his so-called Strandbeesten (beach-walking-beasts) that are made of pvc-tubes and can move independently on the beach.
The prize, consisting of € 50.000, was presented to Theo Jansen by the alderman Joris Wijsmuller. Winners are given the liberty to spend this sum according to their own vision, preferably for realising a unique (art) project in The Hague.

About the Culture Prize of The Hague
The Hague enjoys a rich cultural life and is fruitful ground for the development of artistic talent in different fields, from pop music to fine arts and from (dance) theatre to literature. The Hague Culture Prize has until now been awarded to: artistic leader of the Dutch Dance Theater Jirí Kylián; comedian Paul van Vliet; visual artist Auke de Vries; musician Cesar Zuiderwijk; singer-songwriter Anouk; writer Yvonne Keuls; cartoonist Marnix Rueb.

About Theo Jansen
Theo Jansen (1948) was born in Scheveningen. He studied Physics at Delft University but left the course in order to become an artist. He started painting, but in 1980 he made a moving object for the first time; a UFO that flew above the city Delft.

Strandbeesten
Theo Jansen became increasingly interested in the mechanisms of evolution and tried to select designs through computing, in the same manner as animals are selected through the process of evolution. Since 1990 he designs 'strandbeesten' (beach-walking-beasts), constructions made from pvc-tubes that stroll independently over the beach by means of air pressure from PET-bottles. The beasts are set in motion by the wind, they are able to displace sand and simulate various walking gaits.
www.strandbeest.com

In December 2014 a photography book about Jansen's work entitled Strandbeest: The Dream Machines of Theo Jansen was published. Russian-American photographer Lena Herzog followed Jansen's practice for seven years, and photographed the making of the 'strandbeesten' during this period.
Jansen's work has been exhibited around the globe. Still he can be frequently found in The Hague, as was the case for instance, with his large exhibition in the Electriciteitsfabriek (Electricity Factory) in 2014. Jansen lives and works in The Hague.

Source:
News bulletin on www.denhaag.nl (15 January 2018)

25 Jan '18 - 18 Mar '18
Stroom Den Haag, Hogewal 1-9, The Hague
Entrance: free