The fifteenth edition of the Athena-syntax art project is called OUT OF BEAUTY.
Beauty purifies and transcends a negative worldview.
“The Only True Protest Is Beauty”
Dries Van Noten
“In such an ugly time, the only true protest is beauty.”
Phil Ochs
Annual theme GO! Royal Athenaeum Antwerp 2026-2027 – Art workshops March 18, 2027
Everything is becoming more complex and threatening. The world trembles, many values become worthless, what was fixed comes loose. We are looking for unwavering advice and beacons.
The art project Out of Beauty goes in search.
What happens when we release the rigid laws of code onto the organic, imperfect beauty of the physical world?
The art project Out of Beauty explores exactly that boundary.
The name
The name of the project is directly inspired by a philosophical statement by fashion designer Dries Van Noten. He argued that true beauty only arises when there is friction, when perfection is broken by a deliberate ‘mistake’ or an unexpected element. Nothing is as boring as absolute perfection.
The message
In a world where we are daily confronted with natural disasters, pollution, pandemics, wars, digital dangers, selfishness, and human vices, beauty can purify.
In a world that is hardening, creating and cherishing pure aesthetics is the most radical act an artist can perform.
A protest, an act of resistance in the form of unconditional beauty.
Beauty is not used as decoration, but as a powerful message and a conscious counter-movement.
The project captures the friction between hard, binary code and the human soul.
The project is an ode to the beauty of nature, life, and the inner self.
When the world around you hardens or becomes ugly, making something truly beautiful is the most powerful way to protest.
STUDENT ART
