Strandbeest: The Dream Machines of Theo Jansen

February 6–May 1, 2016

Chicago Cultural Center, Exhibit Hall & Sidney R. Yates Gallery, 4th Floor North

Chicago Cultural Center > Visual Art Program > Exhibitions > Past Exhibitions > Strandbeest: The Dream Machines of Theo Jansen

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In the first major American exhibition tour, Theo Jansen’s wholly distinctive kinetic creations blur the lines of art, engineering, science and performance. The exhibition celebrates the thrill of the Strandbeests’ locomotion and shows the processes that have driven their evolutionary development. The sculptures are accompanied by artist drawings, videos, daily demonstrations of the Strandbeests’ movements, a display of retired “fossils” as well as photography by Lena Herzog, who spent more than seven years documenting the Strandbeests' evolution. Handlers will tend to the creatures and provide daily demonstrations of their animation and breath.

Strandbeest Brochure (PDF)

Reanimation Schedule

Daily demonstrations of the “beests”

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday & Sunday

10:30–11am Walk with an Ordis
11:15am Suspendisse reanimation
11:30am–1pm Walk with an Ordis
1:30pm Segundas reanimation
2–3pm Walk with an Ordis
3:30pm Suspendisse performance

Wednesday & Friday

10:30am–1pm Walk with an Ordis
1:15pm Suspendisse reanimation
1:30–3pm Walk with an Ordis
3:30pm Segundas reanimation
4–5pm Walk with an Ordis
5:30pm Suspendisse performance

Strandbeest: The Dream Machines of Theo Jansen is organized by the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM), Salem, MA. Audemars Piguet, the tour's National Sponsor, provided generous support to PEM. Grant support provided to DCASE by the Consulate General of the Netherlands in New York, The Netherland-America Foundation and Peabody Essex Museum.

Visit us:

Admission is FREE
Monday–Friday, 10am–7pm
Saturday–Sunday, 10am–5pm
(Closed Holidays)

Plan Your Visit

Find us:

Chicago Cultural Center
78 E. Washington St.
Chicago, IL 60602

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