For the Carte Blanche, you designed a participatory installation calling on the four elements (earth, fire, air, water) and the five senses (sight, smell, hear, taste, touch). Presented at different art
fairs, it will be a moment of wonderment that everyone can be part of leaving a trace of their passage with a piece of chalk.
How did you come up with the idea? Sometimes ideas come very quickly, but then you have to think
about them and push them in a different direction. I meditate a lot. So, I tried, while meditating, to gather all my experiences at Maison Ruinart and combine my different impressions,
sensations, emotions. I asked myself, What can I do with this to inspire people? Rather than trying to teach them something, I wanted to offer a new perspective and vision. I wanted to give
them an eye-opening experience using artistic tools: to make them see, smell, hear, taste and feel the essence of both Ruinart and their own lives. For me, it is about helping people
understand who they are and where they are going, but also how to be present here and now, in the moment.
Because, with our hectic lifestyles, we sometimes forget to enjoy and seize the moment.
Champagne is a product of nature that carries earth/soil, fire/sun, air/wind and water/rain within.
By summoning these elements in your installation, you provoke something unexpected, even magical.
Nature is of paramount importance in our lives, even if we are sometimes distant from it. To find and experience it,
we can use tools that awaken our senses. Seeing a gentle breeze play with the vine leaves,
listening to the soft rustling of the wind, smelling the flowers, touching the dew on the leaves or tasting the grapes.
Sensations like these can be experienced at the different art fairs through my Carte Blanche, thus removing us from our fast-paced
habits and lifestyles for a moment. The installation aims to bring out emotions. The idea is to offer
visitors simple experiences that trigger something intimate. Each visitor is given a piece of chalk to touch and draw with,
a raisin to taste, a scent to smell. Drawing their face on the coloured panels will help them connect with themselves and express their feelings. Each visitor will react differently,
but I hope it will be a memorable moment for each of them and they will take that feeling and experience away with them.