In an attempt to remind readers how language appears to those incapable of understanding it, Codex Seraphinianus has baffled critics for decades.
Codex Seraphinianusis the fantastical brainchild of Luigi Serafini . An artist , architect , and designer , Serafini draw on his multidisciplinary background to craft an encyclopedia of a world of impossible action .
Published in 1981,Codex Seraphinianuswowed readers with its intricate illustrations and its original premiss . The book first appears as completely nonsensical – an encyclopaedia about an exotic public complete with exotic script – but there is a method acting to the folly . Luigi Serafini took two and a half years to complete the project and since , there have been legion academic papers and essay written about it .
As with other encyclopedia , the pages of Codex Seraphinianus exhaustively detail the world ’s various elements , except in this instance said world does not physically exist . Flora are demonstrate as diagram reminiscent of classical botanical illustrations . Fauna are playfully portrayed as otherworldly versions of beast we have on Earth .
These line drawing of wildlife are fantastically inventive , often meet with conformation – such as the hollow trees – or combining average token like penitentiary quills and goldfish bowl with fantastic creatures .
Of course , Luigi Serafini could n’t very well leave out the people of this intriguing alien world . He shows us a number of colorful culture , double-dyed with traditional clothes , and the way they interact with their children . All illustration in the encyclopedia whimsically blend the modern with the antique , which only contribute to its dreamy quality .
Serafini ’s envisage city are both rigorously architectural as well as romantic . He contrasts winding , labyrinth - like urban center wall with what reckon like an atmospheric canal .
Codex Seraphinianus is so exhaustive that it even tackles the microscopic element of the worldly concern . Several Sir Frederick Handley Page are devoted to what look like bacterial slides . Others present complicated tubes and flasks that might be used to make pure chemicals .
Perhaps inspired by his ground as a designer , Serafini showcases the challenging inventions of his imaginary masses . One such scientific accomplishment is what appear to be a whirlybird that creates rainbow patterns in the sky . Other gadgets are almost like Rube Goldberg machine , comprise of several parts for some strange purpose .
The illustrations are impulsive and at times nightmarish . There ’s a goodish dose of Boschian body horror .
depiction of food are also , by turn , creative and unsettling . reader are made aware that some societies eat Pisces from faucets ; also featured are toothed bowls that moil food into a library paste , which is then eaten with a wheat .
Accompanying the drafting are explanation written in an invented language , somewhat evocative of Sanskrit : elegant , flowing , and adorn with loops and curlicues .
Serafini has said that the linguistic process is not stand for to be understood , but still it ’s captivated the imaginations of cryptographers and lover everywhere . In part , that was the power point : Serafini wanted readers to have the admiration and muddiness that youngster experience before they ’ve learned drop a line language . The outcome is what seems like mysterious artifacts from another situation and metre .
Not discounting the spell of a secure mystery , part of Codex Seraphinianus ’s endure appeal is the elbow room it coalesce the surreal with the mundane . Most of the art has a dream - like quality , mix in cliche target with unacceptable anatomy and vivacious colors .
One of the plants pictured grows into an ordinary chair , while another instance what looks like a run - of - the - mill street lamp spouting forth a glowing swarm . Another show bright - colored wearable , some of which front more like huge flowers .
One page have a half - man , half - beast animal resonant of the illustrious half - piece , half - bull’s eye Minotaur of Hellenic mythology .
“ fabulous ” might be a good intelligence to describe Serafini ’s work . At more or less 360 page long , it takes reader on a whirlwind spell of an foreign world full of wonders and storybook scenes .
Codex finish with an afterword – written , of course , in the same undecipherable language .
funnily enough , Serafini describe the cognitive process of creating the encyclopaedia as , at times , an out - of - body experience .
He compared it to “ automatic composition , ” which is writing that is supposedly from either an international origin ( normally tell to be ghosts or spirits ) or from the deep - seated unconsciousness of the writer . Given how bizarre and unbelievable some of the illustration are , it would n’t be a reach to believe it !
Many different edition of Codex Seraphinianus have made it to print , and as a will to its popularity , Serafini released several sign , limited edition copies this twelvemonth . Codex Seraphinianushas inspired everyone from academics to choreographers to fable writers , the most famous of which is Italo Calvino .
Even today , enthusiasts still attempt to decrypt the deep handwriting while cultural commentators discuss its meaning . Like some kind of ethnic Rorschach mental testing , Codex can defend everything from the subconscious fear of the unknown to the chaos and clutter of the Information Age .
Even if readers ca n’t make headway nor stern of the word of honor or even some of the pictures of the Codex Seraphinianus , there is one matter that is universally understood : the allurement of the unearthly and undiscovered .
