Presented exclusively during this year’s Art Basel Miami Beach edition, La Prairie introduces its latest commission by the Taiwanese new media artist, choreographer, and dancer Wen-Chi Su, as part of an ongoing partnership between the Swiss skincare brand and the international contemporary art fair. The luxury skincare house is inviting onlookers to experience a space where art and science converge, as Wen-Chi debuts a performative work in celebration of La Prairie’s latest innovation, in their “White Caviar” collection.
Against the backdrop of the mountains of its home in Montreux, Switzerland, La Prairie’s luxurious formulas and packaging draw from the picturesque qualities of the region—like the enchanting moment that occurs when light and water meet. This particular phenomenon informed its latest product, while offering the starting point for Wen-Chi’s collaboration. La Prairie invited the artist to Switzerland to experience its unparalleled beauty before she conceived her work.
Wen-Chi Su in Lake Brienz, Switzerland in Summer 2021, courtesy of La Prairie.
“The inspiration behind the work very much relates to intrinsic notions of La Prairie—Swiss nature, art, and science,” said Wen-Chi. “It was about incorporating all those elements into the theme of The Dance of Light and Water. For me, this was very interesting as light has always been an essential part of my work in theaters and water a representation of the human body.”
After losing herself in the region’s idyllic peaks and valleys, the artist began choreographing a performance and conceiving an installation. As a dancer, choreographer, new media artist, and the founder of YiLab., Wen-Chi founded the new media performance collective from a fascination with the ways humans live in parallel with machines. In line with La Prairie’s pioneering work in the beauty industry, her practice follows the belief that art and science are very much the same.
“Science for me is the incarnation of research and trying to rationalize and prove hypotheses,” said the artist. “To do so, scientists have built their own language— graphs, fractions, calculation—all stem from scientists’ imagination to create a common language of understanding. Art is not different from this logic.”
Wen-Chi Su in Switzerland in Summer 2021, courtesy of La Prairie.
Held outdoors at the mercy of nature, the final performance—titled Moving Towards the Horizon—will take place in Miami Beach Oceanfront within a space that Wen-Chi has designed, capturing the essence of Montreux with a water-inspired soundtrack and carefully planned lighting. Along with these elements, the artist will use her body to perform a physical poetry evoking ideas of fluidity and the glimmering of light.
“Through my works, I want to create moments of calmness and beauty so that people take a moment to step back from the hectic world to reflect on different aspects of life and its associated elements,” said Wen-Chi.
La Prairie’s White Caviar Essence Extraordinaire, courtesy of La Prairie.
Just as Wen-Chi’s performance work exemplifies qualities of light and water found in La Prairie’s magical place of origin, the house’s White Caviar Essence Extraordinaire aims to re-create them on the wearer’s skin. Through an Equation of Light focusing on three areas—increased hydration, collagen support, and gentle exfoliation—the rich, refreshing, formulas have been encapsulated in a series of elegant pearlescent-and-silver bottles. Employing Swiss Golden Caviar Extract, the regime is complete with the White Caviar Essence Extraordinaire, the White Caviar Illuminating Pearl Infusion, and finally, the White Caviar Crème Extraordinaire, used in tandem to capture a luminosity like no other.
Public Opening:
La Prairie Beach Club: open December 2, 12–4 PM
Art Performance by Wen-Chi Su: December 2, 5–6:30 PM
Miami Ocean Front, between 21st and 22nd Streets
To register, visit HERE.
