A SECOND wave of exclusive commissions, outdoor installations and music has been announced by the Arts by the Sea culture festival.

Spanning various in-and-outdoor spaces across the town from September 27 to 29, the latest highlights include acrobatics from Acrojou, a life-sized, interactive games arcade, the Thrill Laboratory Virtual Reality Playground, poetry and world music.

Andy McKeown, the winner of Artist Open Call 2019 will showcase his exclusive work, BeachHUTS at the free-to-attend festival which is delivered by BCP Council and in association with Arts Council England.

The events has partnered with Without Walls, a network of festivals which works with artists to bring outdoor arts to people across the UK. It brings acrobatic and dance theatre group Acrojou, the life-sized Actual Reality Arcade, where players can enjoy classic games such as Tetris and Pac-Man, as well as VR headsets and aerial theatre from Wired Aerial.

As part of its mission to develop talent from across the UK, the festival’s Artist Open Call project allows artists to submit work to be commissioned for the event. Under the brief of ‘large-scale, interactive art light installation’, Andy McKeown was chosen as the 2019 winner, beating more than 40 entries to see his bespoke piece, BeachHUTS come a reality.

Using new media light, sound, image and video projection, BeachHUTS will be a mesmerising, visual display of footage captured from the local area created in conjunction with young people from Bournemouth.

Andy McKeown said: “BeachHUTS is a constantly changing mix of locally gathered coastal sounds and imagery with interactive and participatory elements creating a playful take on the classic beach hut. For me the beach hut represents the perfect antidote to the pressures of everyday life. A place to escape to even for a brief moment whilst allowing the sounds of sea to wash away the constant stress and routine of modern living.”

This year will also stage the works of the 2018 Artist Open Call winner, Jack Wates. His piece Colour Curve is a mind bending, large-scale light installation where 120 coloured streetlights will be lit along Bournemouth Beach creating a ‘frontier’ between land and sea.

Other new additions to the 2019 programme include, Flow from Squidsoup – an outdoor exploration of light and Folk Dance Remixed – a collision of music and dance from traditional folk and contemporary hip hop, to maypole and breakdance.