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Bruit
du Frigo

Avril 2022


The Transat

Besançon Beach #2


Besançon

France

As part of the second edition of Besançon Plage, the Hôp Hôp Hôp collective invites Bruit du Frigo for a 5-day artistic residency.

The objective : to propose a temporary installation which will take place on the banks of the Doubs during the summer season, and which can be a support for events in the public space for the association and a convivial place.

The site is a former car park, now forgotten by the inhabitants of Besançon. However, this space in the heart of the city offers a large, free and calm space, below the Quai de Strasbourg, as well as a privileged access to water. An artificial beach of sorts.

The project is based on the specificity of the site : a platform slides in and underlines an obtuse angle formed by the surrounding walls and highlights a forgotten staircase that offers access. A giant deckchair then takes shape : more than 23m long and allowing around forty people to sit on it, it is based on the existing slope of the wall, which offers the ideal inclination to sit comfortably, sunbathe and enjoy the view.

The backs of the deckchair evoke the coloured beach cabins, a reference to the beaches of Brittany. They also serve as a strong, identifiable visual signal and make the project and the site visible and accessible to all.

Subject to violent and impromptu floods, the Doubs often holds many surprises for its inhabitants… this is why the installation can be dismantled, and should be reassembled at the Arsenic, the Hôp Hôp Hôp collective’s place of work.

The whole project is designed as a system of independent frames that can be combined in different ways when the structure is reassembled. This giant deckchair can thus, for example, be transformed into a stage or into various small terraces according to the different needs of the association and the future places that will host it.

A generous platform that can be freely appropriated, it has multiple uses: passers-by can stop, settle down, have a picnic, people who like to laze around can stroll around, and the inhabitants can meet up… A space for contemplation, the giant deckchair transforms this former car park into a real scenic space that could become a performance venue with the Doubs in the background.




























































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At the crossroads of art, territories and populations, our approach aims to promote the transition to sustainable, shared and welcoming cities, by proposing alternative ways of imagining and building our living environment and by exploring new forms of public space.