Illustrated Invisible Cities

An occasionally-updated list of illustrations of Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities, newest first.

• Mikhail Viesel has illustrated every city in IC (text in Russian, though the explanation is in English)
• Roman Ondak's work (and workshops) cite Invisible Cities (and remind us of Paul Noble's work); Sergio Bonelli Editore illustrators made 11 drawings for the Milano Triennale; and here's one more city. Christine Boyer's Cybercities is an interesting read.
• Our own illustrations: We're starting to post some current art projects: illustrations for Italo Calvino's Invisible Cities, etc. Some of this was discussed on an Edward Tufte thread on the London Underground map, where Jeffrey Berg pointed us on to these maps of internet and p2p networks.
• Wayne Thiebaud illustrated a limited-run edition by Arion Press, see a great set of images here. "The artist Wayne Thiebaud contributed 12 drawings, with the idea that the images of cities and objects remain invisible until the reader takes action. To realize this concept, Andrew Hoyem designed the book with the drawings printed on clear plastic in different colors of inks, each matching the color of the following sheet. The images are revealed only when the transparent sheet is turned back onto the preceding page, a white sheet with printed text." Also: the related Souvenirs of Cities print. (His Hill City (Day City), 1981 is slightly ICish, and reminiscent of the urban canyons of Brazil.)
• The Illuminated Italo Calvino project (tantalising, because there aren't any pictures. Nor here.)
• Not an illustration, but an interesting project by Medialab's Rich Streitmatter-Tran on Impossible/Invisible Forms, which planned to render visually four narrative strands/accounts - those of Calvino, Polo, Khan, the reader. A project that might work better for IC's If On A Winter's Night a Traveller. (And R.S-T wrote to say the project hasn't made huge leaps forward yet, and suggests Murakami's Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World as another interesting target)
• Other things: Binary Bonsai's concepts and renderings for Baucis; Lynne Devine, Glasgow School of Art; Catherine Rive (slightly ambiguous as to whether it's an illustration of IC or not); possible illustration in an essay called Utility and Uselessness; something by Martin Lee

(previously updated in in June 2003)

Comments

[Chloe Atreya]

I also have a new illustrated version of Invisible Cities and have recently linked this site to mine:

www.festinalentepress.com

My book, entitled "Invisible Cities: A Metaphorical Complex Adaptive System", is a work of creative non-fiction that uses the content and unusual narrative structure of Calvino’s “Invisible Cities” as a starting point for an exploration of the principles of complex adaptive systems. The goals of the book are to provide a novel and accessible means of contextualizing existing knowledge within an interdisciplinary framework and to demonstrate how art and science inform each other.

I'd love to hear from others who are inspired by and work on Invisible Cities.

Cheers,
Chloe
[email protected]

[PaulSweeney]

I know this comment was left in Jan, but yes, I was inspired to look at the concept of invisible cities and the work of C.P. Cavafy the Greek poet, and melded my ideas of into an idea which I think of as a "city of influence", which I made into a manuscript and published with prints by the Irish Painter Gavin Hogg.

[Peter Knight]

I recently composed a suite for improvising brass ensemble, percussion, and bass, inspired by Calvino's Invisible Cities. It appears on the album Invisible Cities and Other Works by the 5+2 Brass Ensemble (Rufus Records Sydney Australia distributed by Universal)
You can listen to samples at www.peterknightmusic.com/5plus2

[Carl Leroy-Smith]

Thought I might take the liberty of putting up a link to my blog which contains 55 watercolours, one for each Invisible Cities chapter which I have done in the last two months.

Thanks

Carl Leroy-Smith

[M. Morris]

There's an illustrator named Helen Friel who has done some illustrations for Octavia (thin city 5)

http://helenfriel.blogspot.com/2008/01/invisible-cities.html

[Jean-Marc Jugant]

I have been inspired by IC a little while ago, as a friend mentioned this work. The reading was IMHO a fantastic journey; I did an attempt to describe how at some point I was emotionally responding to the city I was, and currently am, leaving in.

http://jmj-on-dehiscence.blogspot.com/2010/12/morosia-very-short-story-my-hommage-to.html

If the gargoyles of Morosia inspire you, feel free to create your visuals!