The “Codex Seraphinianus”, the surreal and enigmatic book that cannot be read

How many books have changed our lives? Nevertheless, Some of them leave an indelible trace and act on us like the burrow of the rabbit ofAlice in Wonderland. Similarly, They invite us to see what usually we don’t see. Moreover, The power of writing is limitless. Nevertheless, How many massacres, genocides first started with a work placed on a shelf? Nevertheless, The reverse is just as true, as printed characters catalyze revolutions and other liberation movements. Moreover, Other works cause cognitive storms of a new kind during which readers see their perceptions modified.

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A graphic and literary UFO – "codex seraphinianus", surreal enigmatic book

The Codex Seraphinianus is one of them. Therefore, An extraordinary work, hybridization of art and literature which sails between puzzles and secrets. Meanwhile, Directed by Luigi Serafini. Furthermore, architect, designer and Italian artist between 1976 and 1978, the Codex Seraphinianus was published for the first time in 1981 by the transalpine publisher Franco Maria Ricci. In addition, Composed of around 360 to 400 pages (according to editions). Consequently, it presents itself as an illustrated encyclopedia of a completely imaginary universe, with surreal, colorful and meticulous drawings, made in colored pencil.

The text that accompanies these images is written in an unknown language and alphabet with indecipherable characters. In addition, Is it a dead language? Therefore, Rare? However, A dialect? Furthermore, Has Luigi Serafini encrypted or quantified his texts voluntarily? In addition, The mystery “codex seraphinianus”, surreal enigmatic book remains whole and. Moreover, as soon as it is released, the Codex Seraphinianus arouses a mixture of wonder, perplexity and fascination. In addition, The public is struck by the originality and visual coherence of this strange universe.

Extract from Codex Seraphinianusfrom Luigi Serafini, published for the first time in 1981. However, | Guillaume Origoni

This book is unlike any other: it is neither a novel nor a scientific manual. Moreover, but a kind of catalog of a parallel world, where the laws of nature and logic are upset. A chaos organized straight out of the fertile brain of Luigi Serafini. Everything seems to obey a clean system whose keys we do not have. Since its first edition. several reprints and special editions have been published, notably in “codex seraphinianus”, surreal enigmatic book 2013 and an anniversary edition in 2021 by Rizzoli, confirming the cult and mysterious status of the Codex.

The wildest theories on this codex. from “psychic” cat to extraterrestrials – "codex seraphinianus", surreal enigmatic book

This enigma naturally has given rise to many theories, often extravagant, which try to unravel its secret. Among the most widespread, some compare it to the Voynich manuscript, which probably remains the most mysterious book in history. This hypothesis suggests that the Codex Seraphinianus could contain secret, esoteric or even alchemical knowledge, coded by its indecipherable writing.

Other theories, even more fanciful, evoke supernatural or psychedelic origins. An initiatory trip, the result of a mescaline intake, a hallucinogenic psychotropic. An urban legend says that Luigi Serafini would have been inspired by a “psychic” cat that would have dictated. the content of the book. Some go so far as to imagine that the codex would be a artefact of extraterrestrial origin. an attempt to communication “codex seraphinianus”, surreal enigmatic book with a non -human intelligence or an encrypted message intended for a secret elite.

These speculations. attractive for some, are obviously based on no tangible evidence but above all reflect our propensity to fill the voids when we meet these literary and artistic objects of the third type. The truth is elsewhere. first of all in our brain, which puts itself in automatic piloting to find the hidden meaning and activates the pleasure that our fascination for the mystery and the unknown provides.

Extract from Codex Seraphinianusfrom Luigi Serafini, published for the first time in 1981. | Guillaume Origoni

Italo Calvino, Umberto Eco, Federico Fellini …

Italo Calvino mentioned the Codex Seraphinianus By emphasizing the evocative power of its invented writing and its visual universe. In an essay. the Italian “codex seraphinianus”, surreal enigmatic book writer of the XX^e century considered that the book created a “Other universe”whose language, although completely indecipherable, has its own syntax which subverts the usual logic of things. Italo Calvino then explains that what troubles the reader is not so much the absolute difference with our world. but the disturbing resemblance and the quirky internal logic that governs this universe. He saw in this work a deep mystery linked to the very nature of language and thought.

The admirers of Umberto Eco – other famous Italian writer – claim that he saw in the Codex Seraphinianus A fascinating work at the crossroads of art. language and hermeneutics (the science of interpretation of texts and signs). The Piedmontese linguist. however, left no detailed text on this subject, but his interest in mysterious texts, invented languages and enigmatic cultural objects are enough for his fan club to establish a link between him and “codex seraphinianus”, surreal enigmatic book Luigi Serafini.

Extract from Codex Seraphinianusfrom Luigi Serafini, published for the first time in 1981. | Guillaume Origoni

Federico Fellini, meanwhile, had a more concrete relationship with Luigi Serafini. Fascinated by his work. the Italian filmmaker offers him a role in his film The voice of the moon (The voice of the moon1990), which he refuses by timidity. In exchange. he subjects him the idea of designing the poster of what will be his last feature film (Federico Fellini died in October 1993). This collaboration. the fruit of a long friendship cultivated by regular walks in the Roman streets, testifies to the admiration of the director for the unique visual universe of Luigi Serafini.

Roberto Benigni and Paolo Villaggio in La Voce della Luna (1990) “codex seraphinianus”, surreal enigmatic book pic.twitter.com/Lktwzlod6Z

— Frame Found (@framefound) December 2. 2018

In summary, Italo Calvino addressed the Codex Seraphinianus from the literary and philosophical angle, exploring the nature of language and perception; Umberto Eco saw in him an enigmatic cultural object worthy of intellectual interest; While Federico Fellini concretized his admiration by direct artistic collaboration with Luigi Serafini. These interactions contribute to the reputation of Codex Seraphinianus as a major and mysterious work of art.

Extract from Codex Seraphinianusfrom Luigi Serafini, published for the first time in 1981. | Guillaume Origoni

&quot. codex seraphinianus", surreal enigmatic book

The “Élan Vital” De Luigi Serafini

Luigi Serafini has always taken care to deny the idea that his work would contain a coded message or secret meaning. He explains that the invented language of “codex seraphinianus”, surreal enigmatic book Codex Seraphinianus is a pure graphic device. designed to recreate the child’s feeling in the face of a book that he cannot read. This aeemic writing. without real syntax or lexicon, stimulates the imagination, causes the feeling of wonder that time is gnawing little by little like acid.

Luigi Serafini considers his book as the encyclopedia of a fictitious world. where the images came first, then the text invented to accompany these visions. THE Codex Seraphinianus is a work of art designed to be contemplated rather than deciphered. However, many are still looking for an alternative truth about the codex. This universe. where the boundaries between plants, animals, human and machine are blurred, where objects and beings change in shape and function, will remain for centuries a false mystery, but a real performance.

Extract from Codex Seraphinianusfrom Luigi Serafini, published for the first time in 1981. | Guillaume Origoni

With this work we are witnessing the birth of a myth and the legends that accompany it. In addition to its status as a first -rate cultural pop object. the Codex Seraphinianus is also proof in situ that the truth does not always penetrate reality. In the work of Luigi Serafini the two circulate side by side. on two parallel roads which only meet once the infinity has reached.

The author of what is often called “the strangest book in the world” is going through this with detachment. In February 2022. interviewed on France Culture, he confessed what is the real enigma for him: “The interest that we have in my work is for me a mystery. I have been drawing since 1976. inventing myself from time to time stories about “codex seraphinianus”, surreal enigmatic book the genesis of this book, because I can’t understand how I did. It was a momentum, a vital momentum. ”