As part of the Carte Blanche program, Jeppe Hein imagined an artistic installation that translated his sensorial journey at Maison Ruinart in Champagne. To renew the experience of nature and bring it into our daily life, Jeppe Hein uses “fragments of matter and emotion” that awaken our senses and connect us to ourselves and the world. Right Here, Right Now is a participatory installation that summons the four elements – earth/soil, water/rain, air/wind and fire/sun – essential to champagne making. To make this experience accessible to all, Ruinart imagined a digital extension to it.
Based in Berlin, the Danish artist is a witty heir to the conceptual art and Minimalism of the 1970s. His participatory dimension is at the heart of his work, just as his interest in the five senses and the four elements can be found in his installations. He made his name with art pieces whose apparent simplicity changes the viewer’s relationship to their surrounding and encourages dialogue. A great practitioner of yoga and meditation, Jeppe Hein integrates these teachings into his artistic approach. He also loves nature, which he considers a refuge to recharge his batteries.
Experience this ever-changing installation, whose colours evolve over the year, at the major contemporary art fairs of which Ruinart is a partner.
“This is an invitation to embrace the moment.
To activate all our senses.
To open our hearts and reflect.
We are right here, right now.
We share this moment: by listening to our inner sensations,
tasting an artistic experience, watching our reflections
and contemplating our thoughts.
We are connected to the elements: earth, air, sun and water.
We are connected to each other.
We are connected to our deeper selves.
And this experience lifts us up,
like champagne bubbles floating in the air”.
As part of his artistic reinterpretation of Maison Ruinart, Jeppe Hein transformed the wooden box containing a Jeroboam bottle of Ruinart Rosé into a work of art, exploring the different dimensions of champagne. The box was whitened with chalk taken directly from the walls of Ruinart's chalk pits in Reims, giving the wood a ceruse-like appearance. Instead of the usual Ruinart label, a rose-coloured mirror label appears on the front of the bottle, recalling the mirrors that display mantras in the art installation. Once the bottle has been removed, the box serves as the base for a rose-coloured mirror sculpture evoking both the colour and sparkling bubbles of the champagne: a testimony to the fleeting moment of tasting.
