Nature has a lot to say. And usually, it takes some interpreting to get a full grasp on the ideas. In Ruinart’s newest delivery of its Conversations With Nature series, the champagne house employs Japanese artist Tadashi Kawamata to construct several in-situ works for its 4 RUE DES CRAYÈRES in Reims, with the hope of offering viewers new perspectives on observations of nature at work.

Several elements of Ruinart’s property struck Kawamata as he began the project — the morning’s warm rays beaming through mist that leaves droplets on grapevines, wildlife scurrying around the outdoors, and a gentle breeze rustling leaves.

These observations birthed a series of models, drawings and installations that will be on display at Frieze Los Angeles before later traveling to New York and Miami Beach. In the collection are building plans that lay out Kawamata’s logic through tests and measurements, site sketches that combine drawings and leftover pieces of wood, tree huts exploring the dynamic between nature and culture that appear as branches of the plants themselves, and parts of Kawamata’s Destruction series that evoke the cyclical nature between construction and destruction as well as the fragility of our environment. Kawamata also designed a limited-edition case for a Ruinart Blanc de Blancs Jeroboam, which explores a miniature sanctuary and, again, the bigger picture of climate fragility.

“I like the idea of miniaturization. Big things become small, in-situ installations become objects. This changes the relationship with scale and the hand,” Kawamata affirms. “Small formats enable me to test balances, tensions and can later become monumental. It is important that the spirit remains the same, focusing on the hand, wood and time.”

Kawamata’s work continues Ruinart’s exploration into contemporary issues via art and culture.

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