Invisible Cities Thumbnails (Armilla)
Here is the start of my thumbnails for our Project Invisible Cities, Focusing on the city Armilla. One of the main thing which I though Armilla looked like was that this city of pipes, baths and taps were on a platform that overflowed over the edge and created a waterfall effect as he said it could be seen as enchanting like a teacup and saucer was overflowing. I feel like my lines could have been clearer so it is easier to see the thumbnails and what everything is.
OGR 05/10/2018
ReplyDeleteHey Grace,
So Ersilla - I really like this city - it's one of Calvino's most improbable, most 'fine art' cities - and really requires some imagination to bring its character to life! The first thing I want to underline is that Calvino is describing a city - something that will be many miles across and covering different areas of a landscape. Lots of students think rather too small about this project - so depicting a few houses or something 'village-sized' - when really, the concept artist you've become is being challenged to think much more expansively. In terms of an artist reference you might find useful in this 'super-sizing' of your vision is Christo - famous for wrapping huge things in fabric:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/christos-california-dreamin-90869/
http://idaaf.com/christo-and-jeanne-one-artist-in-two-bodies/
It might also help you to look at installation artists who use string to dramatic and complex effect (as this is something students sometimes struggle with when it comes to dealing with the epic-ness of what Calvino is actually describing):
https://www.yellowtrace.com.au/string-thread-installations/
Just imagine an entire city - something the size of New York - webbed in with different coloured string - how extraordinary would that look!
I like the idea of the 'tents and teepees' - but again, be wary of thinking 'small' - yes, in a city you have modest-sized domestic buildings, but you also have much bigger buildings - high-rises, town halls, courts, theatres, hospitals and so on - so while tents might indeed be a thing, don't forget to think about scale and differentiation, for example:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tensile_structure
https://www.masterbuilder.co.in/significant-tensile-structures-across-globe/
The other obvious question about Ersilla is... where does all the sting come from anyway? In terms of your interior, maybe you could think about answering that question? I assume too, given the significance of string to the culture of the city, that those you spin it might be considered of some societal importance? Would 'the spinners of Ersilla' be a special group - and what would a 'spinning wheel' or loom look like, if it had to supply an entire city's worth of string over and over again?
http://www.museumsyndicate.com/item.php?item=36836
Likewise, all the string would need to be dyed...
http://www.imagesofanthropology.com/images/F0000011_copy_low_res.jpg
and all the string would need to be stored someplace too...
http://woolwarehouseonline.com/index.php/merino-wool-yarn/
I think Ersillia - in a conceptual and creative sense - really yields surprises and excitements when you just take the idea of the string city as a 'real thing' - and then start to work out some of the more practical ideas. For example, in a city choked with string, how to people travel about - do they use the great collections of string as rope-bridges and walkways? Imagine if a whole bunch of buildings were up one side of a valley - and a whole lot more where up the other side, there would be huge spanning structures of string stretching from one side to the other...
https://www.dezeen.com/2015/07/16/janet-echelman-aerial-sculpture-installation-rope-rose-kennedy-greenway-boston-park/
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/destinations/south-america/peru/inca-grass-rope-bridge-qeswachaka-unesco/
So yes - Ersilla is amazing - but you need to get into the true scale of what Calvino is describing, and my advice, is you then get into the logistical side of what his descriptions might actually mean for the society producing all that string...