La Prairie x Art Basel Miami

La Prairie X Art Basel Miami Beach Wen-Chi Su: The Dance of Light And Water

By Margaret Luce & Jadan Horyn

The sun is low on the horizon as Metropolitan Magazine’s publisher Chase Backer, editorial contributor Margaret Luce, and I walk past the cream-colored dunes and wispy tall grasses onto powder-soft sand. Our collective gaze is caught by the vista before us, on the sand in an entire beach club built with rich woods and subdued pastels accented with crisp whites, playing off the color palette of its environment. La Prairie, the Swiss luxury skincare brand and an official sponsor of Art Basel, has created a subdued yet sophisticated pop-up beach club.

We continue our walk towards it, greeted by the hosts in what would ordinarily be the check-in hut before you head to your beach chair. Instead, we are handed champagne and guided to the slatted wood tiled patio that served as a courtyard flanked by a stylized lifeguard stand on one side, a service booth on the other, and beach chairs arrayed in front of it. Soft music is playing, and a dim glow of lighting illuminates us as we look out towards the water.

The Dance of Light and Water is the evocatively named poetic dance performed by Taiwanese new media artist, choreographer, and dancer Wen-Chi Su for La Prairie in Miami Beach and the reason La Prairie is hosting this exclusive gathering. Wen-Chi Su felt deeply inspired by the natural environment of La Prairie’s native Switzerland. Su describes it as an “immersion into Swiss enchantment, the glimmering luminosity of light off the Swiss lakes. How it serenades, the waves formed the basis of the collaboration between the two. La Prairie and Wen-Chi Su bring that to a sunset setting beachside at Basel.

Margaret and I are beckoned to a hemicircle on the sand with the others. In the center is a mirrored circle on the sand. Stationed around it are mirrored pillars standing as citadels against the sky, simultaneously holding up the firmament and standing guard to protect the interplay of light, water, and movement about to unfold before us. Enter Wen-Chi Su.

Wen-Chi Su salutes the sun in slow, deliberate motions and honors the water. Dusk settles behind us as the sky becomes ablaze in vibrant crimsons softening to rosés and subdued blushes, burnt oranges fading to xanthous, violets resolving to pale mauves. At the same time, the ocean in front of us extinguishes first from turquoise to azul and then settles to a glassy navy grey. Soft spotlights cast a glow on her as the sun slips below the horizon. We are enraptured and relaxed; the ideal seventy degrees and slight breeze create the perfect night.

We walk back to the patio area where divine caviar bellinis and champagne call, a toast, and homage to La Prairie’s relaunch of White Caviar’s precisionengineered beauty line to illuminate and firm skin. Soft candlelight casts a pale glow on the carefully curated crowd. La Prairie Beach Club is the perfect retreat from the indulgence of art at Basel and the thrill of Miami. A place where form meets function, relaxation, and rejuvenation refresh the soul. A night beckons us yet; we depart to the 1 Hotel South Beach to take in an art installation and visit a small boutique store, Violet and Grace. Our beginning anew and refreshed from La Prairie and Wen-Chi Su.