Cities of You

System #14: Rhizzather (Heather P)

20 x 16", Gouache and Colored Pencil on Paper

Rhizzather refers to the natural law that all city births come in pairs. That is not to say that the pair of sprouted cities are identical or contiguous. The pair may share nothing in common or may exist on different continents. However, the pair of cities share the same ingredients. The urban planners share the same blueprints. The stone is extracted from the same quarries. The underground construction workers share the same sleeping quarters. However, the final step in the city assembly process is executed by pyrotechnicians. A self-contained and self-sustained explosion adds the right amount of variability to send each city on its own path and develop its own properties. The resulting cities are unaware of the identity of their sibling. Immigration thrives on this fact alone in that the restless know there exists a place that is both native and estranged.