Chorals, 2025

Installation view: Maison Ruinart Crayères, Reims, 2025. Photo by Chloé Le Reste

Permanent installation
Maison Ruinart Crayères, Reims, France, 2025

Chorals reverberates across temporal and spatial dimensions, linking the vibrant ecosystems of today’s reefs with the fossilized remnants of the ancient Lutetian Sea, which once covered what is now the Champagne region. Though often imagined as silent, these underwater worlds pulse with intricate voices—from the rhythmic clicks of crustaceans to the distant songs of whales—transforming the chalk cellars of Maison Ruinart into an ephemeral reef. Layers of recorded marine bioacoustics ripple through the space, animating stillness with the richness of submerged biodiversity.

As coral reefs worldwide face escalating threats from climate change and biodiversity collapse, their once-resonant soundscapes begin to fade. In Chorals, these intricate voices are amplified, inviting visitors to listen more deeply, not only to the ocean’s vitality but also to what risks disappearing.

Commissioned by Maison Ruinart Crayères, Chorals is permanently installed in their underground crayère in Reims, France. The project was developed in close collaboration with Nino Theys.

All images are © Julian Charrière / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn.

Installation view: Maison Ruinart Crayères, Reims, 2025. Photo by Chloé Le Reste
Installation view: Maison Ruinart Crayères, Reims, 2025. Courtesy of Ruinart
Installation view: Maison Ruinart Crayères, Reims, 2025. Courtesy of Ruinart