It is a rather special opening that I propose to you today.
At the Grand Palais, thanks to the patronage of PagesJaunes, a work by Anish
Kapoor, very real, is built a few hundred meters from here. A
a work that remains, however, imaginary until it has been seen,
whereas here, these are very virtual works, as for them, are
presented in the flesh, dare I say, before our eyes.
Precisely, the development of the immersive 3D platform Urban Dive has
was an opportunity, as Jean de Loisy recalled, to pass for the
first time ordering an artist virtual installations, implanted
in a real landscape.
In this case, Anish Kapoor proposed the modelling of some of its
works so that they are virtually inseparable in sites among
the most prestigious in the French capital, revisited by flaws
seismic, red wax and abyss dug in places
overloaded with history. This idea of entrusting artists with the keys of a
general imaginary remodeling of the urban already has a long history,
from the idealistic città of the fifteenth Italian century to the capricci
18th century architecture. Today, the possibilities offered by
the immersive technologies you propose open up new perspectives
more than exciting, both in terms of support and access.
I will be in Versailles on Monday 9 May to celebrate the launch of Google
Art Project, which departs from Google Street Views to invite to discover
tables. The major innovation that Urban Dive brings, as we can see, is
free oneself from the plan, to propose works in three dimensions that
not just being in the city, but literally recreating it. The
«augmented reality», which consists in discovering, with glasses
special, by pointing the viewfinder of a mobile phone, or by surfing on
the web, virtual additions that increase, explain or enrich
space, is also able to embellish it and put itself at the service of the
artistic creation.
I think this is one of the most interesting applications of
new technologies, as the spectrum of these applications seems wide. To
artistic vocation, as we see here, we can also imagine it at the service
mediation. We are certainly only at the beginning of a
new cultural history of visual media.
France and its schools produce every year in the field of
new technologies and digital creation, new creators
and developers whose talent is recognized worldwide. I am
happy that today such an old and familiar company
French as the yellow pages, which beautifully negotiated during the
the latest decade the digital shift, is part of this new
creative landscape where France has all the assets to be even more
present.
Thank you.