Aur – The city and the Moons | Story-Interview with the artist John Gatip
Aur – The city and the Moons is a journey into the imaginary world of John Gatip’s creations. He is an Australian architect and artist who likes to play with the construction and deconstruction of utopia with architectural sculptures that sparkles. Aur – The city and the Moons is a unique fictional story-interview born from the Aureate + exhibition installed at the Est Lighting showroom. The artist’s golden cities were placed in conjunction with products by DGA, Marset and other leading lighting designer brands to showcase how light and sculpture interact.
Golden dust hovers within the void of the cavernous island. Slow and rhythmic pulses of air breathe within the void, embracing past our bodies. A gentle light glows in sync with each gasp as we approach the ruins closer. The sounds did not seem natural but mechanical. I look down the void and I noticed a city that was shrouded in shadows, lit only by what seemed like coloured moonlight. John, where are we?
We are in the city of Aur. This fabled city originated just beyond the pillars of Hercules where Colossus’ fire burns faintly at the horizon. It was said the city was composed of seven giant mechanical islands, creating an archipelago that was constantly moving. Never seen at the same place and time; only appearing to those whose desires outweighed their will. It seems we have discovered the fragmented remains of one of the island ships of Aur.
Glass spheres gravitate towards our eyes: the diffused light illuminates the space in different ways. Sometimes in neutral tones and sometimes in colored hues of orange, emerald or cobalt shades. They seem to slowly orbit around the ruinous city. Why do they move?
These glass spheres were an instrument used by the people of Aur. This was their navigation system. From our understanding the glass spheres are like mechanical moons that would push and pull the city across the limitless ocean. Their movements correspond with the celestial bodies, tracing the constellations for their direction. These moons generated a kinetic energy that allowed the city to propel itself whilst providing a source of light. These enormous bodies commanded the configuration of the city, spatially and programmatically. You can see from where we are standing there are faint markings across the surface where the city changes its configuration. We still have a lot to learn from Aur and at best these are just our speculation. It seems this ancient city has come to a halt, yet the mechanism of the moons are still functioning. Furthermore, we have not uncovered all the buildings the composed this part of Aur. It seems there are 55 different formations that moved with the moons.
Dark veins cross the smooth and shiny surface, how was this landscape formed?
This landscape is not natural. The fables about Aur being a giant ship are confirmed. Each part of Aur was constructed, even its natural features were bio engineered and created. This very surface we stand on is a metal alloy where veins are magnetic tracks that allowed the buildings of the city to reconfigure. It may seem absurd that buildings move because our cities are static and are built on top of each other. But for the people of Aur, change was needed in order to efficiently move from one place to another. A factory for a certain product may be needed for a few years and when it no longer served its purpose it would be pulled apart into its components and reconfigured to become another building for a different purpose. The city was always in construction and always shifting.
During the day the city shines, everything is soaked in a gold-coloured film, what do these architectures tell?
The city is composed of different components that repeat in different combination. This observation formulated our hypothesis that the city was built with a few building elements. Through their different combinations, they would create different programs and architectural typologies. We can also see that they did not segregate programs like our suburbs but they mixed housing, factories and cultural typologies. What this suggest is that the people of Aur were very efficient in how they use their city and developed an ability to repurpose certain elements in order to create new typologies and programs. You can see how each element can have endless combination and permutations. The rich golden colour of the buildings is a testament of their economic success.
Who do you think lived here? What was their story?
A lot of our speculation are from other sources of documents such as medieval maps, stories and myths through the centuries of merchants returning from distant lands of desires. The most complete account of Aur comes from Miraz, a medieval merchant who spent the twilight of his years hunting for Aur. However, many scholars believe this account could have been fabricated for Miraz was at the brink of madness where he has spent all his fortunes in search of this city. From his stories, Miraz mentioned the city was founded by seven pious monks. The city grew through industry by the skilled hands of its residents. Silks harvested from selectively bred Bombyx Augri (a speciated strain from the common silk worm Bombyx Mori), metals and jewels produced through alchemy, and knowledge used as trading barters. The people of Aur were cunning in all things they do. We also know from these spherical lights that they observed the stars.
What happened to this city?
No one knows how this entire archipelago disappeared. Some say it was caused by terrible storm. Others say it moored itself onto an ancient reef, causing ancient underwater volcanoes to erupts. Some say God himself submerged these islands, for they have deviated from their pious origins and became a land of selfish desires. Some of our team speculates that this part of the city that we discovered was severely damaged and that the city is still out there, constantly moving across the glassy sea and evading to be seen again.
