So I stumbled across this little gem yesterday and it left me fascinated, in fact I'll go as far as calling it the best book I'm unable to read! Codex Seraphinianus is an encyclopaedic masterpiece published in 1981 by the Italian artist and designer Luigi Serafini. The work, which took two years to complete, not only includes visually striking and surreal creations but is accompanied by its own fabricated language, had it been written in Alan Turing's lifetime he would have most probably been left scratching his head.
The book is divided into sections that appear to cover the plants, animals, inhabitants and vehicles of this parallel universe, Serafini describes it as an "encyclopaedia of an imaginary world" and it does indeed contain the detail and depth reminiscent of an encyclopaedia. From crocodile fountains to trees going for walks, Codex Seraphinianus is a feast for the imagination, dreamlike in its presence.
I'm in love with the imagery but also the idea of liberation from language, the manner in which Serafini appears to annotate his artwork suggests that the words are decipherable, there surely must be meaning to this text. Many including members of the Oxford University Society of Bibliophiles have tried to translate the script, reaching nothing but dead ends and eventually forcing the author to admit that there is none. In an interview Serafini explained that "The drawings were so strange that I said Ok, I have to find a language to explain those drawings."
I wish Serafini had kept quiet about the books nonsensical text, if I were him I'd have carried it to my grave, my gift to academia. But I guess the mystery around Serafini's masterpiece risks leaving the work open to misinterpretation; humans after all have an irresistible desire to assign meaning and in the absence of such, conclusions are often conjured up in order to satisfy this lust. Several institutions for example concluded that the book contained the language of Lucifer, human nature after all has the tendency to fear what is not understood.
The book's surrealist imagery reminds me of the language of collage, it's pure fantasy and ridiculous by design yet intricate and inspired. I'm reminded of dreams I've had that make no sense, although in my dreams every human, every creature and plant is relatable, the situations they are placed in is what leaves me baffled the following morning. Codex Seraphinianus is an enigma in itself and the work has gained a cult following, the book retailing at $135.00 (on the official Rizzoli website) goes in and out of print regularly but is currently available as a 40th anniversary edition.
Afterthoughts:
[1] All this talk of nonsense got me thinking about other scriptures that have and still continue to occupy the days of many a philologist. Could some elements of these be made up as well?
[2] What would intelligent alien lifeforms make of the gold discs attached to voyager, would they recognise the inscriptions as a form of communication?
References:
Beautifully meaningless: Codex Seraphinianus
Blog / British Library
Codex Seraphinianus
Book / Luigi Serafini
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