Calvino is fascinating for his minuteness of detail and his plays of visibility and invisibility, and the novel Invisible Cities is a voyage into the known-unknown: memory, desire, signs, eyes, names, sky, all mapped out in an intricate numerological/mathematical structure—imaginary conversations between Venetian traveler Marco Polo and Mongol ruler Kublai Khan.
“Journeys to relive your past?” was the Khan’s question at this point, a question which could also have been formulated: “Journeys to recover your future?”
And Marco’s answer was: “Elsewhere is a negative mirror. The traveler recognizes the little that is his, discovering the much he has not had and will never have.”
It was a joy to come across the drawings for the novel created by Lima-based architect Karina Puente. Viewing them is like a stroll in Venice, assuming one’s purpose in Venice to become lost and blind, only then to gain presence and insight. A continual play. A continual wobble of vision.
h/t: Italo Calvino’s ‘Invisible Cities’, Illustrated: archdaily.com
