Art + Design

The Codex Silenda is one puzzling book indeed

Clever artistry

12.10.2016

By Gwen Ong

The Codex Silenda is one puzzling book indeed

Before mobile phones and social media, there were books and puzzles to while our time away. Now to revisit these activities, industrial designer Brady Whitney was inspired to combine these two forms of classic entertainment together.

The Codex Silenda is both a book and a multi-part puzzle in which readers must unlock or solve the puzzles to unfold a short fictional tale.

The story follows an apprentice of Da Vinci and it tells of the Codex, which was created by the polymath to protect his work from spies. The Codex acts as a trap and as a test to see whether his apprentice is worthy of tutelage, Da Vinci sets him up in the Codex. The readers must then try to help the apprentice escape and discover the secrets within. Now this is what we call an interactive work of art.

To make this special book, Brady constructed the interconnected pieces with laser technology while the parts are hand-fitted together. His inventive book-puzzle project drew so much excitement that it was immediately crowdfunded on Kickstarter within six hours of its launch. If you want to solve the puzzle too, get in line; there’s currently a waiting list for the Codex.

 

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