THE FALL (LOOKED PRETTY BAD)™ by Camille Soulat, Tumy, Gabriel René Franjou
☆︎︎︎ Currently on view in Paris ☆︎︎︎
THE FALL (LOOKED PRETTY BAD)™ is © ENCORE LABEL's first CORE release, consisting of three commissioned artworks: a framed painting by Camille Soulat, a track by Tumy (with vocals by Sioban) and a poem by Gabriel René Franjou.
So, the fall has happened. Whether it was something biblical, like the old “Fall of Man” marking the end of innocent obedience, or the fall from heaven of a gorgeous“light-bringer”, something societal like the fall of capitalist civilization, or something more intimate and personal but painful nonetheless, it happened, and we must contend with what comes now.
To this end we wander through a wide-open, troubled technicolor dreamscape. There is a constant shimmer, perhaps the glow of a device connected to the internet or dawn rising early, and the light will play tricks on you. Everything appears to be both hi-resolution and low-fidelity. The inhabitants of this altered reality speak in heartfelt snowclones, time-worn and misquoted sentences that nevertheless express a depth of feeling. Tumy’s soft glitchy electronica, driven by emo arpeggios and Sioban’s ethereal voice, shines just like the flashlight held by the faceless figure under a blood sky in Camille’s digital image, which is perhaps the same light that the anonymous (collective?) “u” addressed in Gabriel’s poem are trying to hold in their hands. All three pieces seem to be looking for something that is either out of reach or a fragment of someone’s, or something’s, imagination. Might it be possible that it is right by their side already?
In any case, the three works echo each other in mood, feeling, and affect, more than through a specific theoretical frame, as a whole emerges through juxtaposition. After the fall, alone together and post-whatever, they offer no solution or practical wisdom. Instead, their suggestion is to trust only our gut feeling and the ambient melancholia, and to follow the source of the shining.
THE FALL (LOOKED PRETTY BAD)™, 2026
Unique Work
Framed
Include a certificate of authenticity
“The metallic frame, edged with sharp spikes, heightens the tension between mystery and revelation. It is adorned with badges bearing inscriptions and pictograms: "Here we are there and now that's all is there", "Imagination is not a state, it's the human existence itself", "In this house we believe : the sun is arrogant and seeks your doom, you don't have to keep all the blood inside of you, the good jobs are in the wood...", "Help, the paranoids are after me" along with symbols such as a tongue-out emoji and a duck in mid-flight”
— Camille Soulat
“This track feels like an exploration of melancholic sonic landscapes, a quest for vast spaces with an ethereal atmosphere. I wanted to work on layering ambient and electronica textures, building everything around the melody, which was the starting point. For the vocals, I collaborated with Sioban, an ambient artist, and together we looked for ways to weave her voice so it answered the rhythm while leaving room to strengthen the ambient quality.”
— Tumy
the fall (looked pretty bad)
u r the shadow of the angel slain
by the false carnage in the distance.
u fall to earth. do u smell the shit
of the beasts u believed to be extinct?
kansas no more. no wonderland either.
as the sky bleeds out, the edges
of cartoon creatures blur into light,
a light that u can hold in ur hands
as soon as the shaking
stops. u check ur pockets
for loose nuts & candy & maybe
a letter, note, memorandum of sorts
but nada. ur skin is sticky to the
touch. dipped in tar perhaps.
ur device can’t connect to
the network. then it dies. stupid,
classic situation, u think, u seem
to recall this happening before,
as in, before the fall. for what
comes next we shall see. polite
hallucinations come and go.
the whole wide world is but a feeling
a comedown. a simulation. a dead
singer can still sing. the stench
of petrol at the purple hour
or burning paper on the eleventh
day of spring. forget spring,
gear up for heritage, whispers
& the drowsy paranoia of summer.
u can’t keep pretending u know
nothing. at nightfall a lone girl sleeps
in a hospital bed, lit candles on her
faint body enhancing the room
into 4K. but. she is wounded.
she has fallen. ah. where
were u when it happened?
caught in some headlights, for sure.
be not afraid. this is how it is
written in the old book
tho it leaves out the military
& the fascistic. at least after
a while. now the buzzing has
returned. damnit. it’s always some
parasite or something. anyway
she awakes now. yawns
looks around. have we met
in the past, she asks. no clue
u say. huh. not much of a life
ur living. she laughs. her spine
seems damaged. she stares.
u hit your head pretty hard
she tells u. hmmm, u stutter
inexplicably embarrassed. i’ll be
right back, u promise, & go inspect
that buzz. pretty soon u have
walked way too far. ur denim
ripped & ur eyes ache
from the trucolor dawn – it is
dawn now. again. u r reminded of
the cold plexiglass of the window
pane. not a nice feeling.
whatever it was u were looking for
won’t be reached. u weren’t aware
that what u have lost was
even yours to begin with.
ur pretty thirsty. last night’s
Marfa lights were exceptional,
unholy. yeah maybe it’s cars
but cars r unholy too. plus
there is a lie of smog and sunsets
there is a lie and a liar. or just plain
ol’ nostalgia. turn back now. now
take in the landscape, the moment,
the frozen reeds of the saltmarsh.
dream urself awake. now focus
now it is a warehouse. now
the girls r many. hospital beds
by the hundreds. everyone
has hit their head. hard. yeah.
finally some sense can be gleaned
from the fear of dispossession.
now she is gone but u r roused.
now the shaking stops. now it
is crystal clear & lossy.
now the light lodges at the core
of everything u know. try
and hold it. go on. now
the tall grass melts into
the sea. u feel sick. u feel
blessed.
THE FALL (LOOKED PRETTY BAD)™, 2026
[Artists]
Camille Soulat
Tumy
Gabriel René Franjou
