Cities of You

City #5: Ozhijah (Liza J)

18 x 24", Pen and Gouache on Paper

In the city of Ozhijah, all the houses are built upon gigantic metal arms that move up and down. On any given day, an onlooking tourist might scoff at the city's seemingly disordered arrangement. The next day, another visitor might marvel at its immaculate symmetry. This is because each morning the citizens meet in the town hall to agree upon the algorithm to determine the city's layout for that day. Sometimes they choose beautifully arranged fractals; sometimes they choose seemingly chaotic numbers like the digits of pi. However, there are often heated debates as each citizen will fervently argue in favor of the sequence that makes their house the highest point that day- a rare occasion to be thoroughly enjoyed and not to be taken lightly. It is because of that, your status in Ozhijah is not determined by wealth or occupation, but a mixture of mathematical creativity, persistence, and probability.