Under the subumbrellar
We have been deep in research these past few weeks, developing ideas that present us with some exciting new challenges. Biomechanics is a fascinating area of science, in simple terms, this describes the study of how an animal (including humans) moves, and if you know how an organism moves then you can learn a whole lot more about how it lives, how it finds its food, how it may defend itself or make incredible journeys of migration.
Ernst Haeckel / Leptomedusae / Art Forms in Nature
Our studies have been focused on the incredible biomechanics of jellyfish. Often viewed as clumsy swimmers which wander and drift, they are in fact highly energy efficient swimmers due to the evolution of an ingenious and unique mechanism for recapturing vortex power. When considering how an animal propels itself through water, a central and long-standing belief is that the forward motion is created by pushing water to the rear, however, in recent studies of jellyfish it has been discovered that rather than pushing against surrounding fluid, efficient swimming animals primarily 'pull' themselves through the water via suction, utilising low pressure vortices generated in the fluid surrounding the animal's body.
When the jellyfish bell (main body) is contracted it creates lower pressure outside the bell pulling it forwards. When the bell margin relaxes and flares out, the high-pressure vortex below the animal (the subumbrellar) rises into the bell, giving a secondary push forward, so forward thrust is achieved even when relaxing, accounting for 30% of a jellyfish's travel/energy expenditure, this method makes them the most efficient swimmers in the ocean, amazing!
Ernst Haeckel, Discomedusae, Art Forms in Nature
Trying to recreate this movement in a physical three-dimensional form has led us to other work by artists who also use the principles of biomechanics in their work, one very impressive example is 'Strandbeest' the work of Dutch artist Theo Jansen. His creatures tiptoe and gallop across beaches using wind power, and utilise onboard pressure sensors to detect water, allowing them to turn around and avoid (as Jenson describes it) 'drowning' in the waves. There is without question a very real animalistic character to the movement of the ‘Strandbeests’, this is purely down to Jensen's incredible attention to detail and a knowledge of biomechanics.
I think we have our work cut out for us, wish us luck and watch this space.
To view Theo Jansen’s Strandbeests follow this link to a short film.