Claude Monet – Along the water
An immersive experience by Nicolas Thépot
A dive in Claude Monet’s artwork, along the water
Claude Monet’s obsession for water remains with him throughout his life. His fascination with the sky’s reflections, the transparency of the surface, and the mobility of the waters permeates much of his work.
Paced by a dialogue between the painter, his stepdaughter Blanche Hoschedé, and one of his closest friends, the statesman Georges Clemenceau this luminous and narrative virtual reality experience guides visitors through Monet’s work. It spans half a century of artistic creation along river sceneries dear to the Impressionists, passing through the water garden at Giverny, the source of inspiration for the Water Lilies cycle, all the way to the musée de l’Orangerie.
“These water landscapes have become an obsession. It is beyond my strength as an old man, and yet I want to succeed in capturing what I feel. I’ve destroyed some, I’m starting over. I want to paint the elusive. This light that slips away, taking the color with it, is terrible.”
– Claude Monet
Three Direct Questions
Nicolas Thépot, Director
Nicolas Thépot is an author and director. He worked on the series Orsay en Mouvements, (2017). He is also the creator of the mini-series Oubliez-moi for france.tv, as well as the magazine L’Œil de Links for Canal+.
Since 1998, he has been working with the creative agency Gedeon as a director of music videos and short-form programs. More recently, Nicolas has developed cultural mediation projects for the Hôtel de la Marine, the future Cité Internationale de la Langue Française, the Muséoparc d’Alésia, and the Cité du Vin in Bordeaux.
What drew you to Darger's work?
I discovered Henry Darger and Art Brut at the American Folk Art Museum in New York in 2003 during a U.S. tour with Gotan Project. By chance, I also met his heirs. Darger’s work, primarily analog, is made up of collages, drawings, and texts. This self-taught artist, who operated outside modern art conventions (“outsider”), was a genius in both drawing and literature, creating throughout his life without ever showing his work.
Darger embodies pure creativity and is the definition of Art Brut. There’s no intention of external validation; he creates primarily for himself.His world fascinated me, with its depiction of a rich, imaginary battle between the realms of children and adults. But, to me, it called for a complementary musical and auditory dimension.
What started this transmedia project?
Initially, my collaborator Mike Lindsay and I composed music based on Darger’s song lyrics, while showcasing a handcrafted panorama of his drawings and paintings. We aimed to showcase the breadth of his work through digital means. It’s a vintage universe that evokes a form of pop culture from the 1930s to the 1960s, largely inspired by his 15,000-page collection “In the Realms of the Unreal”.
Our album was ready by the end of 2019, but, of course, COVID-19 delayed any touring possibilities. The pandemic also gave us time to consider other ways to bring OUTSIDER to the public when concerts were so limited. I decided to use 2D animation to create more polished visuals, which led me to videographer Pascal Gary (aka formazero). Together, we collaborated with the Rainbox collective, particularly Gabriel Jacquel, to develop the project’s visual concept. We ended up with short, highly narrative visual clips to accompany our music compositions, which allowed us to delve deeper into the material created by Darger.
Finally, we were able to present the full project at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris in 2021 as a performance blending DJ and VJ elements, with visuals, sound, and narration featuring actor Denis Lavant. Once the pandemic was over, I explored virtual reality to further expand OUTSIDER, inspired by immersive experiences like Blanca Li’s *Le Bal de Paris*. Exploring worlds that don’t exist fascinated me, and I was eager to return to this medium. VR offers an amazing opportunity for a suspended experience where one can explore benevolent, dreamlike worlds.
How did you approach the VR medium?
I’ve always had an organic approach to my creations, which gives me a way of moving forward that’s almost indestructible. My artistic practice is open and unrestricted. With Gotan Project, we already mixed sound and visuals, constantly seeking new challenges. The pandemic pushed us to find new ways to share our music, reimagine concerts, and communicate our work.
Transmedia and VR are part of this movement, and I came to them naturally in search of new ways to share my stories with the public. I also wanted to offer something handmade and accessible, avoiding a futuristic vision of VR limited to a few enthusiasts. INSIDER-OUTSIDER is the culmination of OUTSIDER, bringing the audience closer to what we want to offer.
Thanks to a collaboration with Lucid Realities (Chloé Jarry, Alessandra Bogi), the idea of a VR version of OUTSIDER took shape. We share a passion for contemporary art and the habit of integrating various artistic practices. I also came with a wealth of existing content: the story, images, music. The challenge was to transpose it all into virtual reality while incorporating music as an interactive element, exploring how musical interactions could function within a narrative space.
The idea was to bring all our work on OUTSIDER into the VR medium, which ties seamlessly into Darger’s imaginary-focused work. For him, the real world wasn’t suitable; he led a difficult life, with little social satisfaction. All this inspired me to create an immersive version of OUTSIDER, INSIDER-OUTSIDER, as a way to expand upon Darger’s world. It’s like creating a piece of music inspired by something you’ve just seen or read—the blend of genres is always enriching for me.
