I came across the strandbeests by chance at lunchtime today.

I had gone across the river with the intention of looking at the Dutch realist paintings in the National Gallery again, knowing that I would be tempted to have another gawp at the Joseph Wright of Derby painting. (I just love saying the name. Its so preposterous – like Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink who played for Holland in the World Cup)

After finding the paintings I wanted – more quickly than usual: I picked up a map this time – I noticed some strange structures in Trafalgar Square and a lot of activity. Since my visit to the gallery was more efficient than normal I had time to go and investigate.

What I found was a bemused crowd, several TV camera crews and some ‘things’. These things turned out to be the work of another Dutch artist, Theo Jansen. Unlike Vermeer or Rembrandt Jansen does not work with paint and canvas, but with yellow plastic tubes, which he turns into what he calls ‘strandbeests’.

This translates as ‘beach animals’. The idea is that these contraptions can, with the right wind, move about on their own and his ambition is to release herds of them on the beaches to live their own lives. A bit weird, but the beasts themselves are amazing.

Unfortunately I used up most of my stocks of awe when I saw the Sultan’s Elephant, but I was still impressed at the intricacy and mechanics of these structures. Photos really do not do them justice – you have to see them move. The articulation of limbs, and the balance, mean that they can walk with very little pressure at all.

The real shame is that the batteries in my camera died before I could take any decent pictures or videos so I’ll have to go back tomorrow. There is an exhibition at the ICA from July 4th to 16th, but before that some of the works have been on display in Trafalgar Square, and will be in St James Park for the next couple of days.

The arty description of Theo Jansen is that he works “at the interface of nature and technology”, but a more succinct description of his works is that they are really cool.

This would be a good time to thank the combination of Labour government and Labour mayor for such an abundance of free culture and entertainment. Making sure that the main museums and art galleries have free entry makes all these 30-minute visits to the galleries possible and rekindled a spark of appreciation for paintings which I have not had for at least 20 years.