Invisible Cities

ConceptBased upon the text from Italo Calvin's book, Anastasia was born.a city of ‘concentric canals’, its city exploited for its rich ground, brimming with gem stones, the city was conceived. Nested in between mountains only imagined by readers with knowledge of mining and crystals, this city has a darker side than meets the eye…

At the end of three days, moving southward, you come upon Anastasia, a city with concentric canals watering it and kites flying over it. I should now list the wares that can profitably be brought here: agate, onyx, chrysoprase, and

other varieties of chalcedony; I should praise the flesh of the golden pheasant cooked here over fires of seasoned cherry wood and sprinkled with

much sweet marjoram; and tell of the women I have seen bathing in the pool of a garden and who sometimes - it is said - invite the stranger to disrobe with them and chase them in the water. But with all this, I would not be telling you the city’s true essence; for while the description of Anastasia awakens desires one at a time only to force you to stifle them, when you are in the heart of Anastasia one morning, your desires waken all at once and surround you. The city appears to you as a whole where no desire is lost and of which you are a part, and since it enjoys everything you do not enjoy, you can do nothing but inhabit this desire and be content. Such is the power, sometimes called malignant, sometimes benign, that Anastasia, the treacherous city, possesses; if for eight hours a day you work as a cutter of agate, onyx,

chrysoprase, your labor with gives form to desire takes fro desire its form, and you believe you are enjoying Anastasia wholly when you are only its slave.

The Writing behind the Work

Anastasia was chosen for its hidden charms. The text has enough information to ‘awaken desire’ but not enough to describe it as a whole. This has some freedom into placing buildings into the walls beneath ‘concentric canals’ and map out the workshops and studios for its slaves.

The fire pit and the bathing pools are what first sparked my interest. Where are they within this network of the city? Is there a focal point within? Is the city like the Coliseum with its curvature or is only half of its city covered by its spokes?

Hopefully several versions will be made of its architecture before refining it down to its bones and adding in its alluring women and the workers ever struggling to please the city.

Where to next

Initial Ideas

A selection of the first thumbnails captured as digital drawings photoshop. Quick and rough but sometimes that is all that is needed to get the ideas flowing…

Further Ideas

Pencil Sketches

Colour Compositions

Gems & FineryThe items dug up in Anastasia are likely to be a huge part of the lives of both the rich and the poor. The miners dig up the minerals. The kids sit in the boats with kites and help transport them to the next location. The wives/stone cutters/polishers refine the pieces before moving them to a jeweller who creates the final piece before selling it on for the traders to sell to the rich and the tourists.