Robert Wilson recently teamed up with Hermès to create an immersive installation worth dreaming about. Sixth generation family member and Artistic Director of Hermés, Pierre-Alexis Dumas, welcomed Wilson to Cedar Lake in New York to present the installation “Here Elsewhere”—an immersive event that took place in Chelsea from May 10-12.
Upon walking through a reflective, jagged tunnel, guests flowed from one room to another, greeted by video portraits, live performances, and pieces from the most recent Hermès Maison Universe collection—a decadent home collection under artistic direction of Charlotte Macaux Pereleman and Alexis Fabry.
Courtesy of BFA.
“The contrast between the frenzy of New York and the slower pace of Hermès creates an interesting tension,” said Pereleman.
Objects in the collection were placed around the room, under spotlight. There were faux birds hanging from the ceiling and a woman lying on the carpet of her imagined living room, her couch slightly raised on one side behind her. We saw a man slowly arranging items in his large amoire-like storage compartment, and another man with a parrot on his shoulder calmly sitting at his desk. We caught sight of a new tabletop desk with leather harnesses, holders, and filing cabinets, and a few chairs, lamps, and seating arrangements, too.
Courtesy of BFA.
“Here Elsewhere” allowed guests to see pieces from the new Hermés collection in the form in which they’re used, and to envision their own dream home—full of imagination, physical materiality, and timeless charm.
“By creating ‘Here Elsewhere,’ I wanted to see how different objects could complement each other. Taking one object and putting another one next to it helps me to see them better, and every encounter enhances my perception of them,” said Wilson. “They become important in their differences or similarities.”
Courtesy of BFA.
Rather than creating a “dream house,” Wilson used the new collection to represent the dream of a house. Emotional reactions were portrayed through slow-motion movements between person and object, and the balance between materialism and timelessness, and rigor and fantasy, was seen as a common theme throughout the event.
Courtesy of BFA.
Courtesy of BFA.
