Cradle

Cradle (2022) is a new short film created by the Canadian artist Philip Beesley from the University of Waterloo, London-based Warren du Preez and Nick Thornton Jones, and Amsterdam-based Salvador Breed. See the film on @philip.beesley Instagram IGTV and YouTube.

Inspired by the form language of Beesley’s “living architecture” environments, the film’s intricate geometries move from inert crystalline minerals into surging life forms. Within an astral, dream-like vision of constant metamorphosis, a child-like being emerges, reflecting the fundamental journey from death into new life. Rising and falling in cycles, deeply fragmented wilderness is interwoven with shimmering, hopeful light. Whispering voices emerge from cavernous depths, creating an emotional passage from suffering through new life and innocent wonder.  

Together, the film and sound composition offer an almost overwhelmingly intense experience of innumerable worlds falling into chaos and rising again in new life. An extended, immersive version of this film accompanied the installation Grove exhibited at the 2021 Biennale of Architecture in Venice.