HyperNature Harvest -Perrier Jouët Private Dinner at the ICA during Frieze week London2019

MAISON PERRIER-JOUËT  – Artisan of the wild  2018-2019

Bethan Laura Wood as part of Maison Perrier Jouët Artisan of the Wild programme, was commissioned to create a set of four installations over a cause of a year. Blurring the boundaries between the ‘natural and the Man made environment, she interpreted over 200 years of the House’s heritage, as well as Art of the Wild: the universe as seen by Maison Perrier-Jouët to re-enchant the everyday with the presence of vibrant, unbridled nature.  During each event Bethan explored a different element of the HyperNature sculpture from the landscapes it inhabits to the flowers on its branches.

HyperNature Harvest – in celebration of Perrier-Jouët support of the Arts, a intimate dinner hosted at the ICA during Frieze week London 2019

Bethan Laura Wood as part of Maison Perrier-Jouët Artisan of the Wild programme has transformed the ICA Nash room into a HyperNature Harvest. Imaging the bountiful harvest from the HyperNature world, blurring between the ‘natural and the Man made environment, she interpreted over 200 years of the House’s heritage, as well as Art of the Wild: the universe as seen by Maison Perrier-Jouët to
re-enchant the everyday with the presence of vibrant, unbridled nature. Creative liberty and unconventional observations of nature are an integral part of Maison Perrier-Jouët’s identity, as well as that of Art Nouveau, a movement closely linked to the House.

For the final season of the year, Bethan celebrates harvesting the fruits of creativity sewn by creative collaboration. Much like the harvesting of the finest Grapes to produce the Champaign Mason Perrier Jouet House is a blend between perfection in nature and highly specialist knowledge of the cellar Master Hervé Deschamps, Bethan has chosen to work with specialist partners to create this dinner event.

Herbarium Green House, made with Oscar Lessing, is here rescaled to house an intimate dinner within the fabulous setting of the ICA, tracing the tradition and savoir-faire of the House back to the founding family’s passion for botany and the admired 19th-century greenhouses tended to by Charles Perrier. Iridescent frames encase multicoloured blooms of wisteria and give the effect of an inventory of rare specimens in a herbarium. These modular flower presses combine to create reinvented greenhouses which, when light beams through, reveal the same colourful shadows created by the Art Nouveau stained glass found at the historic family home in Champagne.

Root Vegetables by Jochen Holz adorn the table plucked from the nurtured ground of the HyperNature Herbarium Green House. They are handcrafted from industrial, milky Pyrex tubes and topped with rainbow chard and other green and coloured leaves from Arnold and Henderson’s supplier of local and seasonal vegetables, which will later be consumed as part of the meal.

The Hyper Real Food continues with the Tutti Frutti Melon mirror, displayed centrally over the Fireplace in the Nash room. Created with Barbini Mirrors’ Venetian artisans, it blurs traditional hand skills with modern cutting programmes. The Melon is designed from Bethan’s ongoing obsession with ‘fake food’ and re-interpretations of patterns in Nature into other materials.

Back inside the Green House, Rochelle Bar & Canteen has created a menu crafted with seasonal delights, including the ‘Harvest Pie’, decorated with pastry wisteria filled with Pheasant & Wild Mushroom, and a mix of vegetables that celebrate the colours found in nature .

For Dessert guests are encouraged to finally consume HyperNature itself, fallen wisteria has cascaded down onto the various sweet treats. These, unlike the ones on the tree itself, are made from Sugar in collaboration with Fernando Laposse, and mimic the colours and gradients of the hand-dyed PVC, which in turn echoes the palette of Emile Galle, himself a famed collaborator with Masion Perrier-Jouët, drawing the original artwork that adorns the bottle.

The wisteria motif continues with the Harvest Moons (every fantasy world deserves at lease two moons!), which oversee the evening feast either side of the Melon Mirror. These are created with photographer Angus Mill, overlaying wisteria to create a blur between double exposures in camera and physical placement. Napkins and Tablescloths are also created with Angus, using a photographic montage of wisteria to make a never-ending harvest.

other events curated as part of the Artisan of the Wild program were

The HyperNature Spring Ball  – Presented during Salone del Mobile.Milano 2019.

The Spring ball encourages interaction by inviting the viewer to an immersive visual and sound experience.  HyperNature is presented in the lavish neoclassical Palazzo Clerici adorned with frescoes & 17th century tapestries , Like the bell of the ball , Hypernature rotates upon a specially made platform in the center of the spot lit room , allowing her coloured candy shadows , to hypnotically dance around  filling the room with a magical atmosphere in which to enjoy a glass of Champagne. During the intense experiences of the Milan furniture fair , this installation offers a more quite and reflective environment to take a moment to pause. However on one special day during the design week when the clock strikes aperitivo time , a special performance from cult Milanese trumpet player joins Hypernature in her dance and invites people to pluck the champagne glasses for her party spirals like ripe fruits from the tree.

The HyperNature Herbarium, – Masterpiece Champagne terrace presented during Summer 2019

Asked to design a Champaign terrace for the fair Bethan took inspiration from the location of Masterpiece being in close proximity to the oldest Botanical gardens in London.  Connecting this to a specific part of Maison Perrier Jouët History, Bethan traced the tradition and savoir-faire of the House back to the founding family’s passion for botany and the admired 19^th-century greenhouses tended to by Charles Perrier. Iridescent frames encase multicoloured blooms of wisteria, giving the effect of an inventory of rare specimens in a herbarium.

HyperNature  Landscape – Design Miami Collector Lounge presented during winter of 2018

The Art of the Wild universe first comes to life with a transformation of the Design Miami Collector Lounge during the winter of 2018. HyperNature – landscape is Bethan Laura Wood’s  vision of the environment where HyperNature nature grows in the wild . The walls and partitions of the lounge were transformed into colourful mountain paravents, instead of creating a barrier that blocked everyone but the selected few allowed in from seeing and enjoying the space , the paravents created unique viewpoints to frame the tree from both outside and inside the lounge. Those who could enter the lounge could have a more private experience, laying on the vibrant day beds and cushions Bethan had designed as part of Mono Mania Mexico collection launched for Moroso.