SUR LE RÉALISME DU MONDE
— Reimagining the journeys of Marco Polo

Created as a submission to Cifra + Art Night Venezia open call titled “Marco Polo (Re)imagined”, Sur le realisme du monde (On the reality of the world) creates a surreal, visual diary of his journey.

Written by Rustichello da Pisa, based on the accounts he’d heard from Marco Polo during their time at a prison in Genoa, Devisement du Monde (Definitions of the World) may be one of the first best-sellers in history. Its unique descriptions of Marco Polo’s journey with mysterious lands, wonders, people and customs, sparked the imaginations of many who would read it for the first time.

What if we went beyond the 700 year old illustrations and imagine what Marco Polo imagined in his first encounters? Go beyond known geographies, demographics and cultures?

This was the starting point in creating a new visual story, taking the route of his journey as a basis. Using scripted prompts, AI and prompt travelling, I could create new descriptions of these moments, slowly removing the border between reality and imagination.

Put in motion with creative coding, the result was a modular, ever-changing documentation of the lands, people and their artefacts. The animations are designed to be modular, able to adapt to different displays and extended with new imagery.

1.The Landscapes

2. The People

3. The Artefacts

Through these AI generated images and three installations, Sur le réalisme du monde adds a new account to the story.