Beaufort04: Triennial of Contemporary Art by the Belgian Sea.

More than 450,000 visitors have been to see the fourth edition of Beaufort04, the Triennial of Contemporary Art by the Sea that has been running since 31st March. It ended on 30th September 2012.



Nine Flemish municipalities, 65 km of coastline, an easy and sustainable visit on the “Tram du Littoral”, giving visitors a look at the international panorama of contemporary art, exhibited amidst the seascape.



The decision to exhibit these artworks outside museums, instead setting them by the sea aims to attract the general public who end up viewing the works almost by accident on their visits to the beach. The common denominator of the installations is the relationship between humans and the environment, in other words all the facets of man and nature.



For example, curious spectators in Blankenberge actually become part of the artwork in the installation by duo Martine Feipel & Jean Beichamel.



Hans Op de Beeck presents in Nieuwpoort his Location(8), an evolution of Location(7) exhibited at the Venice Art Biennale in 2011. Visitors are treated to a dark, enigmatic space that actually draws its strength from its constructed setting, an old munitions depot.



Tripods, created in the Hoge Blekker nature reserve by Lithuanian artist Zilvinas Kempinas consists of hundreds of 6-metre tall aluminium poles swaying in the wind: this artwork could not exist without the environmental elements of air, light and landscape.



Then there’s “Boundaries of Infinity” by Maltese architect, Norbert Francis Attard. This sculpture is based on the Fibonacci sequence, nature’s numbering system, which, in reference to the context symbolises the perfection of the form, the infinity of nature and the beauty of the sea .



Project: Triennale d'art contemporain sur mer Beaufort04, http://www.beaufort04.be
parts of http://www.visualartsflanders.be/
Dates: 31 March – 30 September 2012
Location: La Panne – Coxyde/Oostduinkerke – Nieuport – Middelkerke/Westende
Ostende – Bredene – De Haan/Wenduine – Blankenberge – Zeebruges, Belgium
Photos: Jimmy Kets, http://www.jimmykets.be, courtesy of beaufort04

Captions:
Le vent souffle où il veut, Daniel Buren. Beaufort03
Many Dreams, Martine Feipel & Jean Beichamel
Location (8), Hans Op de Beeck
Tripods, Zilvina Kempinas
Boundaries of Infinity, Norbert Francis Attard
The Move Overseas, Michael Johansson