Jean-Michel Jarre is preparing a big evening for December 25 at the Palace of Versailles… and in the metaverse. This hybrid and expensive concert would, according to Le Canard chainé, have benefited from the “boost” of the CNC’s “immersive creation” commission, chaired by the French musician since 2022.
Endowed with 3.6 million euros per year, this commission’s mission, according to the CNC, is to “foster the emergence of creative, ambitious and internationally oriented immersive works” and “to accelerate the structuring of this ecosystem, currently driven by the development of the Metaverse which primarily designates the process of platforming immersive uses, and presents unprecedented opportunities. Its president’s project therefore fully meets the objectives of the generous fund which provided financial support of 110,000 euros. Still according to Le Canard chainé, the artist had already benefited from similar aid (100,000 euros) for his production The Eye and I, an immersive creation dedicated to control and surveillance, made public at the beginning of autumn.
According to the CNC, there is not the shadow of a conflict of interest in the allocation of these grants. “In accordance with the usual provisions applicable in the case where a member of a commission is also associated with a project requesting a grant, Jean-Michel Jarre was not at all present at the commission on the day his file was examined », Explained the institution to Le Canard chainé. Ditto for his previous creation: “Jean-Michel Jarre did not sit on the day of the commission which ruled for this aid,” repeats the CNC.
To celebrate the 400th anniversary of the castle, Jean-Michel Jarre’s new concert-show, Versailles 400, aims to be innovative: with the help of teams specializing in new technologies and with the help of artificial intelligence, it will give a concert in a completely reconstructed and virtually redecorated Hall of Mirrors. Thanks to a virtual reality headset, the artist will be simultaneously connected to the metaverse and present between the walls, real this time, of the Palace of Versailles. This event will be an opportunity to “celebrate this place which was at the origin of an incredible artistic revolution, to pay homage to the great royal festivals which have marked History” and to highlight “the excellence of know-how doing French in the digital arts and industries of the 21st century,” we can read on the château’s website.
