Visit the Balmain Villa in the Metaverse
Inspired by the creative identity and heritage of Balmain, prominent contemporary Cuban artist, Alexandre Arrechea, has created “Hexagon Garden,” a site-specific virtual and physical commission shown at Superblue Miami, that transports Villa Balmain to the Web3 universe, relying on LITO’s proprietary technology to create a large-scale, immersive environment enveloping Leonardo Ricci’s construction.
Villa Balmain was constructed on the Italian island of Elba in the late ‘50s, by the famed Italian architect Leonardo Ricci. Working closely with Balmain, Ricci conceived of an extraordinary spaceship-like structure, perched high atop the island’s lush green hills. First setting down three superimposed elliptical shapes that rotate along the same pivot, Ricci then attached
his space capsule to earth with the addition of one perfectly arched tie rod that springs from Villa Balmain and plants itself squarely in the surrounding artificial moat. Ricci and Balmain’s astounding creation has been compared to a handful of other legendary 20th century modern homes: Lina Bo Bardi’s Glass House, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robert Llewellyn Wright House and
Capri’s Villa Malaparte, with each of the remarkable edifices notably engaging in a dialogue with the beauty of the surrounding nature.
After slipping on their headsets, metaverse visitors will first spy an enormous golden ring floating around Arrechea’s reimagination of Ricci’s one-of-a-kind structure—and, as they approach, the ring reveals the precise geometric pattern of a honeycomb. Arrechea allows his digital honeycomb to make very clear the connection between the luxuriant gardens and sleek interior spaces of Balmain’s island retreat. Pierre Balmain grew a multitude of exotic plants and flowers on his grounds—flora that he had gathered during his many travels to all corners of the world. The honeycomb that Arrechea has crafted is pollenated by the bees working in Villa Balmain’s fruitful garden. Constantly buzzing between the vegetation, the golden ring and the Villa’s interior, Arrechea’s bees work to transport an entirely new type of pollen—an array of precious stones—depositing the gems inside the Villa’s new honeycombs, creating impressive patterns that echo the distinctive lines and curves of Villa Balmain’s silhouette and which eventually coalesce into a series of jewelled masks.
“The idea of these precious masks builds directly upon previous work that I created in Cuba,” explains Arrechea. “In Havana, I was constantly taking photos of the city’s different corners— aged façades that were exposed to bright light or set deep in the shadows. After I built up a vast collection of photos, I began to combine portions of the different photos to compose my
masks. That process of creating entirely new images from a series of unconnected city details reflected a concept that has always fascinated me—that of generating completely new meanings via the assemblage of many different fragments. So, for this project, I’ve returned to that original inspiration, selecting an array of Villa Balmain architectural pieces and tying
them to the many journeys of the garden’s bees—and those bees eventually assemble this entirely new bejewelled image from that series of fragmented perspectives of the Villa Balmain.”
“Hexagon Garden” also displays four large-scale physical interpretations of the artist’s signature masks. Two of the exhibition partners were key to helping Arrechea craft those striking artworks. Swarovski—which has long played an important role in the history of Balmain, with both Pierre Balmain and Olivier Rousteing relying on Swarovski’s dazzling crystals for some of their more memorable designs—contributed thousands of shimmering
Swarovski pearls and beads, which were then handset into Arrechea’s distinctive “honeycombs.” Those honeycombs—one-of-a-kind 3D-printed hexagonal grids—were expertly crafted by LITO, utilizing the company’s advanced proprietary technology. Each precious mask has also been paired with its own unique NFT. Those NFTs, echoing the special garden journeys that form the starting point for Arrechea’s creations, are available for purchase on MintNFT.com. The special Alexandre Arrechea-Villa Balmain NFTs will be minted on the fast and energy-efficient XRP Ledger—which in 2020, became the first carbonneutral blockchain.
“Alexandre Arrechea’s exceptional creation for Miami Art Week allows Balmain to highlight its singular history in an unexpected, innovative and beautiful manner,” notes Balmain Chief Marketing Officer Txampi Diz. “By taking full advantage of the remarkable new possibilities that Web3 offers us, we’ve actually been able to create Balmain’s first exhibit venue in the
metaverse—and we’ve done that while remaining squarely focused on the living heritage of this historic French house. That is why we are very pleased that we will be showcasing both Pierre Balmain’s passion for architecture and Alexandre Arrechea’s impressive artwork—both digital and physical—at Superblue Gallery."
