Florent Deloison’s GiscardPunk is 19A0 in the Fifth Republic. Named for Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, the centrist technocrat president of France from 1974-1981, it smudges the times and their technological marvels into a VHS datastream of tainted nostalgia: “the sound of a Europe that wanted to go faster, higher, cleaner… before everything got slower, cheaper, dumber.”
Welcome to GiscardPunk, a dystopian dream created by Florent Deloison of what the future could’ve looked like if France had kept believing in progress, chrome, and presidential elegance. Inspired by the aesthetics of 1970’s and 1980s retrofuturism, and the golden age of French technology, this synthwave edit blends the arrogance of modernity with the craziest french innovations from that era.
Templarius posted this wonder in illustration. Bass boost on! Dystopia, utopia, yuck, yum.
It’s mesmerizing; close to the easily-imaged British equivalent, but shot throughout with a sharp sense of impossible n’est pas français. All the things they did themselves for French reasons—Rafale, Minitel, Ariane, force de dissuasion, TGV—with accomplishment, even if it led to the same dead end.
La France avance
Osez demain
Technologie, jeunesse, pouvoir
V.G.E, le futur en marche !
V.G.E, modernité sans tache !
Énergie nouvelle
Liberté productive
Innovons vite
Futur en marche
Pour une France active et moderne
Décidez aujourd’hui
Révolution tranquille
Ambition partagée
V.G.E, le futur en marche !
V.G.E, modernité sans tache !
Osez le futur
Modernité sans peur
Capital humain
Le progrès vous attend
Société active
Réinventons tout
Confiance et dynamisme
Avançons ensemble
V.G.E, le futur en marche !
V.G.E, modernité sans tache !
Au… revoir.
France is moving forward
Dare to embrace tomorrow
Technology, youth, power
V.G.E., the future is underway!
V.G.E., flawless modernity!
New energy
Productive freedom
Let’s innovate quickly
Future on the move
For an active and modern France
Decide today
Quiet revolution
Shared ambition
V.G.E., the future is underway!
V.G.E., flawless modernity!
Dare to embrace the future
Modernity without fear
Human capital
Progress awaits you
Active society
Let’s reinvent everything
Confidence and dynamism
Let’s move forward together
V.G.E., the future is underway!
V.G.E., flawless modernity!
Goodbye.
Here’s Kevin Kohler on the “the past (and future?) of French high-tech Colbertism”.
Giscardpunk is a reflection of French industrial policy. Specifically, it is emblematic of the golden years of French “high-tech Colbertism”. Understanding this form of industrial policy is crucial to understanding the French and their thinking on technological sovereignty and AI. And, it may well provide some inspiration for Europe.
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