A project of artist residencies

This long-term project proposed Benjamin Millepied and Dimitri Chamblas, invites artists to come and draw inspiration from the founding principles of the Champagne itself. The idea is to foster a creative combustion and to share ideas around inspiration through artistic and cultural collaborations of multiple forms. By establishing a dialogue with the artists as they work, Dom Pérignon is re-examining its heritage and finding inspiring ways to imagine its future, while simultaneously building up a contemporary and vibrant living legacy.

Bach Studies
directed by Benjamin Millepied

Benjamin Millepied directs dancers towards the magic space between craft and creativity for Dom Pérignon.

Deeply inspired by a meeting with Dom Pérignon’s Chef de Cave Richard Geoffroy, Millepied turned to his beloved medium of dance to recreate Geoffroy’s magical mixture of meticulous craft and poetic instinct. Inspiration sits at the heart of Dom Pérignon and was the driving force behind the collaborations which followed. Working with dancers who excel in variations of classic hip hop dance, Millepied inspired his artists to push new boundaries by setting them the challenge of choreographing to pieces of music by Johann Sebastian Bach.

@liakimhappy
Choreographer. Co-Founder of @1milliondance.
810K followers. #StreetDance #UrbanHipHop #StreetFunk 

Toiletpaper magazine 16

Another “Carte blanches” was given to contemporary artists Maurizio Cattelan and Pierpaolo Ferrari, the co-founders of Toiletpaper.

Part of the result is, issue #16 of their famous Toiletpaper Magazine has drawn inspiration from this exceptional champagne.  Deploying the same off-the-wall, striking approach to be found in all of their work, they’ve played around with representations of the fantasies surrounding this Maison Champagne, turning doctrines and received ideas on their heads and, in doing so, bringing their fantastical and surrealist vision to Dom Pérignon.

Silence! The party

Maurizio Cattelan and Pierpaolo Ferrari have also conceived of a unique way to translate this state of mind into a real-life event by creating the Silence Party, a celebration where silence reigns supreme. 

The first party took place in Milan’s Grand Hotel in November 2018. Each of the 20 bedrooms was decked out with unique installations, bathtubs were filled with ice and bottles of Dom Pérignon, dressing rooms stocked with provisions. The 200 attendees, who had gamely adopted the “Black Tie with a Sarcasm” dress code, strolled from room to room in silence, a glass of Dom Pérignon secured in a glass holder on a strap, pens and notebooks to hand. Conversations were carried out in writing. 

A vision of “partying”, then, which offers a unique experience, a game which participants throw themselves into and which provides a welcome contrast to the monotony of the run-of-the-mill events we see every day. A true alternative. 

The next Silence Party should take place soon, somewhere else in the world… and, once again, it will be carried out in total silence. 

The spirit of this Maison Champagne is also expressed in the artist’s universe via a one-of-a-kind mirror, hung on the walls of the abbey of Hautvillers, which is situated on the Dom Pérignon estate. It is within this creative space that the organic, almost living relationship between Toiletpaper and Dom Pérignon has been forged; a link that will soon give rise to new and ingenious concoctions.

Hautvillers Hollywood
by Thomas Humery

B.Y.E is proud to present its first publication: Hautvillers Hollywood, shot by photographer Thomas Humery (b. 1971). Invited by Dom Pérignon as one of their artists in residence, Humery is known for exploring the idea of America though a photographic work since 10 years. In this latest photo book he provides us with a mysterious vision of Los Angeles, a place transformed by the ghostly presence of Dom Pérignon - a hidden presence which allows the city of stars to full reveal itself.

In addition to the texts and accompanying notes written by the artist himself, National Book Award-winning writer Joan Didion makes a guest appearance with the contribution of her essay ‘L.A. Noir’, making this collection of images as much a textual reflection on ambivalence and duality as a visual one. 

Publication : spring 2019.