2019

‘Now I will tell how Octavia, the spider-web city, is made. There is a precipice
between two steep mountains: the city is over the void, bound to the two
crests with ropes and chains and catwalks. You walk on the little wooden ties, careful
not to set your foot in the open spaces, or you cling to the hempen strands.
Below there is nothing for hundreds and hundreds of feet: a few clouds glide past;
farther down you can glimpse the chasm’s bed.

This is the foundation of the city: a net which serves as passage and as support.
All the rest, instead of rising up, is hung below: rope ladders, hammocks, houses
made like sacks, clothes hangers, terraces like gondolas, skins of water, gas jets, spits,
baskets on strings, dumb-waiters, showers, trapezes and rings for children’s games,
cable cars, chandeliers, pots with trailing plants.

Suspended over the abyss, the life of Octavia’s inhabitants is less uncertain
than in other cities. They know the net will last only so long.’

—Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities

This project was an interpretation of Italo Calvino’s novel, Invisible Cities, whereby I responded
to the “spiderweb city”, Octavia, using a combination of analogue printmaking processes,
letterpress and textiles. For my final outcome, I created a handmade folded book,
incorporating stitched detailing to further experiment with its structure. 

The mono-printed imagery used throughout was made from a  mixture of
different materials and textured papers in order to depict webs and netting, capturing even the finest details. 
I used the letterpress as another printing process to create bold and experimental typography,
using the structure of letterforms as visual imagery to further depict the story.