(1949- ) Italian artist, designer and architect whose contribution to Fantastika is the extraordinary Codex Seraphinianus (graph 1981 2vols; exp 2006), a heavily illustrated pseudo-encyclopedia – written in an invented language and script – of an apparent Alternate World. This world's fantastic flora and fauna (> Biology), Physics, Technology (including variously surreal Cyborgs), Cities (many with the air of Utopias), Games and Sports and other aspects are all shown in glowingly coloured detail but, since both text and captions remain indecipherable, are never explained. The effect is strongly reminiscent of the fantastic otherworld encyclopedias imagined by Jorge Luis Borges in Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius (May 1940 Sur) and the title story of El libro de arena ["The Book of Sand"] (coll 1975). [DRL]
Luigi Serafini
born Rome: 4 August 1949
died
works (selected)
- Codex Seraphinianus
(Milan, Italy: Franco Maria Ricci, 1981) [graph: published in two volumes: illus/hb/Luigi Serafini] - Codex Seraphinianus (Milan, Italy: Rizzoli, 2006) [graph: exp of the above, with new illustrations: illus/hb/Luigi Serafini]
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