Last night, Ruinart champagne and the New Museum toasted to its upcoming Ruinart x NEW INC “Forever First” Mixed Reality Pop-Up with a private viewing of the exhibit before it officially opens to the public on Friday, January 24 for a limited run over two weekends. The exhibit is the latest move by Ruinart, the world’s first established champagne house, as it continues its 290-year tradition of championing the arts.

The celebratory evening brought together art world elite, fashion insiders, and tech leaders to preview award-winning virtual reality project Tree and the never-before-seen augmented reality experience Dawn Chorus. The immersive projects were created by emerging artists who are members of the museum’s esteemed cultural incubator, NEW INC, which Ruinart has supported in recent years in an effort to bring to light artistic works that are defined by original thinking and being first in their field.

Guests enjoyed Ruinart’s beloved Blanc de Blancs and Rosé champagnes as the museum’s iconic Sky Room was transformed into an exploratory lounge. Highlight attendees included Timo Weiland (dj / designer), Erica Choi, Olivia Lopez, Ariel Adkins (designer), Ash Owens (designer), JiaJia Fei, Scott Albrecht (artist), Hannah Levy (artist), Reese Donohue (artist), Jonah King (artist), Heidi Lee (artist), Eric Shiner (curator), Nicola Vassell (curator), and more, who were awe-struck by the riveting projects. 

In Tree, participants transform into a rainforest tree, via touch, sight, sound and smell, growing from seedling into maturity as they witness fate firsthand in an experiential artwork that exposes the harsh realities of deforestation.

The multisensorial Dawn Chorus situates both users and the audience amongst virtual birds flocking about a real-life Yamaha piano. Harmonious visuals and sounds demonstrate the phenomena that many marvels perceive as different, such as the frequencies of musical scales, and the flocking patterns of birds, follow the same underlying statistical pattern.

The pop-up will be open to the public Friday, January 24 – Sunday, January 26 and Saturday, February 1 – Sunday, February 2 and available to all museum ticketholders on a first come, first serve basis. In another first for the museum, the pop-up will feature a Ruinart Champagne bar where visitors can purchase Ruinart Blanc de Blancs and Rosé champagne to enjoy while they step into the artworks.

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