Art: The Present through the Eyes of the 1900's

When the day that you now call tomorrow finally comes, it becomes today, and another day takes the name tomorrow. Similarly, the future never actually happens. It’s a concept that can never be tangible; what we call the future right now will be the present later, and then the past. We will never know what happens in the future till it comes, but that doesn’t stop us from guessing. That is exactly what Jean-Marc Côté and other french artists were doing back in the 20th Century, when they created a series of futuristic pictures specifically for the 1900 World Exhibition in Paris. The series, named En L'An 2000 (In the Year 2000), depicted the artists’ interpretations of what France would look like a century later. The series contains a total of 87 known works, printed in the years 1899, 1900, 1901, and 1910, distributed inside cigarette/cigar boxes, and later as postcards. The pictures are definitely inventive depictions of our society today, and although most of the artists’ imaginations did not come to fruition, they’ve certainly given us a lot to think about with these illustrations. Brace yourself for these:

They look like underwater cowboys to be honest. Is it weird that I want to ride one of those?

I wish I had this on the days when I forget to set an alarm. Imagine having your eyeliner be symmetrical too!

The future definitely made good on this invention, even if it turned out a bit differently than this artist hoped. And while speech-to-text is really cool, it doesn’t always understand us like humans do.

If this existed, I’d be out of school by now! I feel for that poor boy turning the crank though, that must be a workout.

Introducing the 20th century version of Facetime! Video chat with friends, now without privacy! (jk) (not really)

These olden-day folk are popping pills - literally! I can’t imagine my entire meal consisting of a few small capsules, but clearly they’re having a fun time with them.

Kitchen-turned chemistry labs? Those food accounts on Instagram wouldn’t be nearly as aesthetically pleasing.

As creepy as those bat wings are, can’t deny that it might help save lives.

Fly-through service? Yes please!

First: these cars looks like fish. Second: what is up with those policemen in the background? They look like they’re castle guards! And those capes are soooooo 18th century.

Images from: Wikimedia Commons

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:France_in_XXI_Century_(fiction)

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