Arboretum Cycle in order

The Arboretum Cycle consists of seven autonomous works shot in Golden Gate Park's Strybing Arboretum. These films spontaneously manifested as the stages of life: early childhood, youth, maturity, old age, and death. 7 films, 2h 17m in all, in release order.

1. 1
   

   Elohim

   2017 · 31 min

   Light in the gardens of the San Francisco Arboretum, photographed in early spring. Elohim are divine beings, the energy of light as creation.

   New
2. 2
   

   Abaton

   2017 · 19 min

   Abaton, a sacred place, a sanctuary for dreaming and healing.

   New
3. 3
   

   Coda

   2017 · 16 min

   These four films spontaneously manifested as four stages of life: childhood, youth, maturity and old age. Elohim was photographed in early spring, the week of the Lunar New Year, the very spirit of Creation. Abaton was photographed a few weeks later in the full ripeness of spring, the very purity and passion of the Garden. Coda was photographed in late spring, in the aftermath of this purity, the first shades of mortality and Knowledge appearing. And finally, Ode, photographed in early summer, is a soft, textured song of the Fallen, the dissonant reds of death, seeds and rebirth. – Nathaniel Dorsky

   New
4. 4
   

   Ode

   2017 · 20 min

   These four films spontaneously manifested as four stages of life: childhood, youth, maturity and old age. Elohim was photographed in early spring, the week of the Lunar New Year, the very spirit of Creation. Abaton was photographed a few weeks later in the full ripeness of spring, the very purity and passion of the Garden. Coda was photographed in late spring, in the aftermath of this purity, the first shades of mortality and Knowledge appearing. And finally, Ode, photographed in early summer, is a soft, textured song of the Fallen, the dissonant reds of death, seeds and rebirth. – Nathaniel Dorsky

   New
5. 5
   

   September

   2018 · 20 min

   September’s ripeness, a blessing on earth, our Indian summer.

   New
6. 6
   

   Monody

   2018 · 16 min

   A monody is an ode sung by a single actor in a Greek tragedy, a poem lamenting a person’s death. In this case, the sixth section of the Arboretum Cycle, the death of the garden itself.

   New
7. 7
   

   Epilogue

   2018 · 15 min

   Epilogue is the seventh film in the Arboretum Cycle, a descent into the dark damp earth, a period of dying.

   New