FLORIS KAAYK | The Origin of Creatures

Video installation / 12:05 min. 

The Origin of Creatures is an animation inspired by the biblical story of the Tower of Babel and is set in an imaginary future where the world is hit by a catastrophe. Among the remains of a devastated city lives that what is left of humanity. Human bodies are divided into separated parts of the body and are fused to special beings. Together, these creatures form a colony. In the rubble of destroyed buildings they are trying to build a nest as large and as high as possible, so that their queen gets enough sunlight to reproduce.

Floris Kaayk (born in 1982) is a Dutch digital artist. He grew up in Tiel as the son of artist couple Coen en Guusje Kaayk. Kaayk graduated cum laude from the animation department of AKV St.Joost School of Fine Art and Design in Breda, and gained a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Sandberg Institute in Amsterdam. His work focused on futuristic concepts and fantasies, and visualises technological progress, sometimes by demonstrating its advantages and at other times by presenting the negative consequences.

In 2014, Kaayk won the Volkskrant Visual Arts Prize for his animated films and semi-documentaries. His shortvideo The Origin of Creatures won over 10 awards on filmfestivals all over the globe. In 2016, his video for the song Witch Doctor by Dutch alternative rock band De Staat received numerous prizes, including a UK Music Video Award, an Edison Pop Award, and a European Music Video Award. In2016, The Modular Body won a Golden Calf Award at the Netherlands Film Festival. Recently Kaayk received the Witteveen+Bos Art+Technololgy award for his complete oeuvre.

Kaayk is currently working on his debut video game – Next Space Rebels – that will release at the end of 2021.