Paradise Now (Be)

Together with L’échappée belle, Pastoral takes a surreal look at the imaginaries and resort areas of Wallonia (whose members of the duo are natives from). They work witha form of strangeness, a cosmic link or an offbeat humor. For this exhibition, Pastoral presents a selection of diptychs composed of color photos (taken by Christophe Bailleau) and poetic fragments (written by Philippe Franck).

For this variable-geometry project (in addition to the exhibition format, videos were also produced and an album + booklet of the photos and poems was released by Transonic in early 2019), Pastoral has composed, in mirror writing, images, texts and a dozen cinematic soundtracks, mostly ambient but contrasted, mixing electronics, guitar and vocals.

Co-creation Philippe Franck (Be) + Christophe Bailleau (Fr/Be).
Production: Transcultures with the support of Alliance Française Bruxelles-Europe.

Within an impressionistic composition (also giving its title to the album-photo-poetry book released in 2019 on the Transonic label) by the duo Pastoral (Christophe Bailleau and Philippe Franck), intertwining guitar arpeggios and electronic waves, bucolic, poetic and humorous sketches intertwine, into a ballad that takes us towards a sweet folly, derived from a provincial lynchean daily environment.

Co-creation Philippe Franck (Be) + Christophe Bailleau (Fr/Be).
Production: Transcultures/Transonic.

‘Gamana’ (in Sanskrit: the journey, the movement or the approach/walk) is a soundscape, without beginning nor end, created especially for this exhibition. It invites us, in a sensorial way, to a slowdown, and to an intellectual and bodily relaxation. With the help of Tibetan, Indian, Vietnamese bowls, gongs and other Asian ritual objects, as well as the sounds of Giovanni Fortenio ceramics, Isa Belle and Paradise Now, offer for the spa area and the swimming pool of the hotel, a meditative audio environment. It is mainly based on its acoustic vibrations, plus a few ambient sequences and electronic treatments by the composer/sound designer Stephan Dunkelman.

Co-creation Isa Belle (Fr/Be) + Paradise Now (Be) in collaboration with Stephan Dunkelman (Be).
Production: Transcultures.

Playing Tibetan, Indian, Vietnamese bowls, gongs and other Asian ritual objects, Isa Belle and Paradise Now offer meditative environmental pieces based mainly on acoustic vibrations. With these dialogues of electronic sequences (Stephan Dunkelman), guitaristic landscape (Paradise Now) and the free and matierist sopranino saxophone played by Maurice Charles JJ. A unique transsonic harmonizing “comprovisational” experience!

Co-creation Isa Belle (Fr/Be) + Paradise Now (Be) + Stephan Dunkelman (Be) + Maurice Charles JJ (Be).
Production: Transcultures.

This video was made from paintings related to the Migrations series by Ivorian visual artist, Jacob Bleu, wherin Belgian/French sound producer Paradise Now was invited to compose a series of organic soundscapes. This seventh migration (from the Migrations album released in 2018 on the Transonic label) is a kind of ethereal post-blues that slowly stretches out, as pictorial works being set in slow motion. It reflects the dramatic reality of these thousands of nameless migrants and the imaginary associated with the desperate quest for a better world, as well as the energy of life that drives them.

Co-creation Jacob Bleu (CI) + Paradise Now (Be).
Production: Transcultures/Transonic.