Post by dividavi on Aug 30, 2019 23:08:45 GMT
Here's something I copied/pasted:Here's something else:My interpretation of Codex Seraphinianus is that at some level it's based on the thesis that evolution in different realities/worlds could have proceeded under totally different processes which give results similar to our own world, at least superficially.
Consider, on our world we have plants, fungi, animals and it's easy to tell which is which. We have males and females in most species and sexual coupling between them results in new generations. The word species has meaning and everyone can tell that porcupines, cats and tulips differ in that regard. We are discrete lifeforms and by discrete I mean that you can tell when one individual begins and ends. It's simple to distinguish those who are living from those who are dead.
Simple, isn't it? No it isn't. Different entities can fuse into a totally new entity which is vastly different from the original constituents. That's how sexual reproduction works. But that's not the only way to continue life. Sponges can be ripped apart and the bits can reunite into new sponges. The Hydra, a fresh water Coelenterate, can reproduce via sperm plus eggs and also by budding. With fungi, it's often impossible to tell where one individual ends and the other begins.
That, Ihink is the underlying concept behind Codex Seraphinianus. Life could have proceeded through a radically different process than on Earth. That's my interpretation. What's yours? And now, the artwork!
Some plants from the world of Codex. They don't really act like plants.
Reproduction method of the trees
Pedestrian traffic in a city.
A quiet day in a park.
That's not how lady bugs form, but elsewhere?
In 1981 Italian artist, architect and industrial designer Luigi Serafini published the weirdest book in history: Codex Seraphinianus. Filled with weird psychedelic illustrations, the book was written in a language that both doesn’t exist and can’t be deciphered (maybe it’s just random gibberish).
The book features many illustrations designed in such a way that it seems they were made by some scientist studying extraterrestrial beings in nature. In this psychedelic encyclopedia one can find hand-drawn colored-pencil illustrations of bizarre and fantastical flora, fauna, anatomies, fashions, and foods. Surrealist scenes include bleeding fruit, a plant that grows into roughly the shape of a chair and is subsequently made into one, and a lovemaking couple that metamorphoses into an alligator.
The book features many illustrations designed in such a way that it seems they were made by some scientist studying extraterrestrial beings in nature. In this psychedelic encyclopedia one can find hand-drawn colored-pencil illustrations of bizarre and fantastical flora, fauna, anatomies, fashions, and foods. Surrealist scenes include bleeding fruit, a plant that grows into roughly the shape of a chair and is subsequently made into one, and a lovemaking couple that metamorphoses into an alligator.
Humans and mushrooms share a common ancestor from 1150 million years ago, and we are closer to them than to bananas - which we share a common ancestor with from 1624 million years ago.
Consider, on our world we have plants, fungi, animals and it's easy to tell which is which. We have males and females in most species and sexual coupling between them results in new generations. The word species has meaning and everyone can tell that porcupines, cats and tulips differ in that regard. We are discrete lifeforms and by discrete I mean that you can tell when one individual begins and ends. It's simple to distinguish those who are living from those who are dead.
Simple, isn't it? No it isn't. Different entities can fuse into a totally new entity which is vastly different from the original constituents. That's how sexual reproduction works. But that's not the only way to continue life. Sponges can be ripped apart and the bits can reunite into new sponges. The Hydra, a fresh water Coelenterate, can reproduce via sperm plus eggs and also by budding. With fungi, it's often impossible to tell where one individual ends and the other begins.
That, Ihink is the underlying concept behind Codex Seraphinianus. Life could have proceeded through a radically different process than on Earth. That's my interpretation. What's yours? And now, the artwork!
Some plants from the world of Codex. They don't really act like plants.
Reproduction method of the trees
Pedestrian traffic in a city.
A quiet day in a park.
That's not how lady bugs form, but elsewhere?