At Miami Art Week, Marcin Rusak and Perrier-Jouët Highlight How Plants Can Communicate
The immersive art exhibition explores the newly discovered idea that plants can talk and what that means for the sustainability of our environment
During Miami Art Week, Maison Perrier-Jouët partnered with Polish designer Marcin Rusak to unveil a thought-provoking art installation, “Plant Pulses,” on the beach near Faena. A continuation of the iconic champagne house’s ongoing yearly collaborations with creative talents in honor of its Art Nouveau history, the artful presentation highlighted an astonishing discovery from researchers at AGH University of Science and Technology in Kraków—the revelation that plants can communicate.
Rusak, known for his hauntingly beautiful furniture highlighting flowers in a state of decay, created a contemporary herbarium in the form of a resin sculpture featuring the three hero plants of the Champagne region’s botanical ecosystem: the vine, European birthwort, and white clover. With climate change an ever-growing concern, Perrier-Jouët and Rusak hoped to convey the ephemeral reality that the vegetation we have today may not be here in 100 years.
Surrounding the sculptural time capsule, three digital screens depict the visual animation of plants communicating through pulse imagery accompanied by interpretative sound. To curate the immersive display, Rusak worked with the scientists at the AGH University of Kraków to listen to the vines from Perrier-Jouët in their laboratory. When the plants had everything they needed, they were quiet, but when they started to experience deprivation of water or sun, they emitted ultrasound signals in different directions that translated to a ticking sound. The exhibit takes viewers through the different states of dehydration, communication with other plants, and rehydration.
“When I heard the translation of the data from the scientists, which was nothing more than a simple tick in different directions, it completely changed my perception of the plant world,” Rusak shares. “It became quite clear that for this project, we wanted to listen to the plants and give them a platform. If we find that people randomly passing by on Miami Beach can change their perceptions through entering this installation, listening to the sounds, and imagining the idea of plants being able to communicate, then, I think that would be brilliant.”
Perrier-Jouët’s Creative Director, Axelle de Buffévent, confirms that encouraging conversation and thinking about new ideas surrounding climate change has always been the goal of their creative collaborations. Hearkening back to its founder’s progressive botanist heritage, the brand has been focusing on new concepts around regenerative agriculture at the vineyard to ensure a sustainable future for champagne.
“We select the partners and artists each year through the lens of our heritage. Knowing that global warming is a threat to any kind of crop in the world, we are working on new concepts around regenerative agriculture in the vineyard. Champagne comes from nature. No grape, no champagne. It’s through conversation that we will build a sustainable path forward, and discovering that plants can talk opens up so many possibilities,” Buffévent says.
To continue the fascinating dialogue, Perrier-Jouët invited guests to an intimate dinner, the Banquet of Nature, following the unveiling in the Mammoth Garden at the Faena Hotel. There, Rusak kept nature centerstage through a stunning centerpiece preserving the terroir of Perrier Jouët’s Epinay vineyard in resin panels. Renowned three Michelin Star Chef Pierre Gagnaire created an inventive, sensory four-course meal curated by Rusak and in collaboration with Steinbeisser, the craft-and-sustainability-focused tableware company based out of the Netherlands. The entire affair highlighted our growing need to protect natural resources in a joyful way, as the symphony of the meal and presentation highlighted Perrier Jouët’s excellent vintage cuvées from their Belle Époque Collection.
“Every year, we invite the designer we are working with to enter into conversation with Pierre Gagnaire, who has been the creative chef behind all that we do, and our cell master, Sylvie. This year, we were very happy to bring in, for the first time, Steinbeisser. They have an amazing approach to ensuring we are very conscious of what we are eating and drinking in a joyful way, and this is what Perrier Jouët is about—adding that spark to life. Our hope is that these beautiful shared moments will open the minds,” Buffévent concludes.