Art in the last place you'd look

This pristine tranquility will soon come under siege by the artificial, as he shows by scattering several over-sized dice over the meadow. The shape and color scheme of the dice (sibala in Taiwanese) stand in sharp contrast with the meadow and weigh heavily on the weathered grass. "I wonder what people intend to see when they put something artificial in a natural environment. Is it the sight of civilization or a spoiled nature?" he asked.

The works by local artists stand out with their unassuming sincerity. Sheu Tsu-kuey (許自貴) let himself be inspired by childhood memories to create Going Home to Plant Flowers (回家種花). Born in Penghu, Sheu has long since moved to Taiwan and had not returned to Shiyu for decades before being asked by the festival organizers. "When I was small, my grandfather used to grow plants in our yard every year, but the plants never survived Penghu's harsh winter. ... Now that I can to do something for my hometown, I want to plant the flowers that could not have bloomed in the past," Sheu said. For this he planted plastic flowers on the roadside in soft pink, yellow and purple, whose blooms can last through the winter, "just to make my hometown more beautiful, if only for a very short time," he said.

The most eye-catching work in the exhibition is Martin Minto Fang's (范姜明道) Flying Colors (風吹彩動). Using iron-wire net that residents build their fences with, Fang installed a rail bed of red grass that stretches over 150m. On each of the 48 wire rolls are attached 50 red ribbons that flip rhythmically in the wind. Famous for his many grass-planting projects in urban environments like Los Angles and the Venice Biennials, this is the first time for Fang to work in natural surroundings. "In my previous works, I added a green touch to grey concrete jungles. This time, there's this expanse of green and the strong wind that greatly impressed me, so I just let the wind speak," Fang said. Although Fang uses red to contrast against the grass, the installation blends in so well with its surroundings that the cows raised on the meadow mistook the the ribbons for grass and bit off a few.

Japanese installation artist Ken Kageyama, famous for his Here Upon series influenced by Zen Buddhism, and Christo's compatriot sculptor Todor Todorov, who was part of the Hualien Stone Sculpture Festival in September, were invited to create new works for the festival, giving it a global perspective. Although their works here do not seem to live up to their fame, the maturity of their works nonetheless serve as good examples of land art for local artists.

Because an overwhelming portion of the government budget was earmarked for an accompanying seafood festival, the festival had to make do with limited money with which to recruit artists and fund their works.

"I think we've managed to come up with the best possible results for a first-time event. There are still things to improve, but we hope it will successfully introduce the concept to Taiwan," said Hsu Hsiao-kuei (徐孝貴), project manager of L'orangerie International(橘園國際).

It may be a quite a while before the Penghu festival can rival Sydney's Sculpture by the Sea event, which ends today, but by going to Penghu this year you'll be able to see the beginning of something great.