Theo Jansen brings his strangely poetic and technologically driven sculptures to the beaches of the Netherlands. They are uniquely constructed, based on genetic algorithms that are often used to design circuit boards and other neurologically artificial constructs. Using computers to help develop the designs, he strives to broaden our thinking about what is art and what is design. As Jansen puts it, “The walls between art and engineering exist only in our minds.”

His goal is to make his creations able to learn, and thus adapt to their environment. Eventually he wants to put these man-made animals out in herds on the beaches, so they can live their own lives.

Watch the video and see these odd beasts scuttle across the sand, driven by the wind, like huge crabs with some sense of purpose beyond what we as humans can know or understand.