More pictures of the reconstruction

Why reconstruct the Tower?

Ever since I first saw the grainy old Photograph of the monument I have periodicaly returned to the image as a source for ideas - the frustration that it is impossible to remember exactly what goes on in the structure led to various attempts to understand it so that I could draw it from memory, these proved futile, it is an impossible object.
After repeated exposure to the non-existant object something of the raw energy and excitement of the period which engendered it was transmitted, this thing kept getting more relevant, and all the more powerful for being mythical. I Finaly I spent some time researching Tatlin's influences and other reconstructions of the tower, most of which are, at best guesses. I began making real and virtual models of the tower - during the course of working on these models I realised why the structure is so elusive.

The Tower appears to be a structure, In which case one would assume a level of engineering validity. Most reconstructions have been carried out by engineers who it seems have tried to resolve the structural problems of the tower. Tatlin didn't, he used numbers and structural elements, for symbolic and expressive effect, When they failed to produce the right expressive effect he 'tweaked' them. He started with a cone and pushed it, later he cut off the bits that didn't work.

The Tower was designed (perhaps designed was the wrong word) with some future technology in mind. he included lifts that revolved in unbelievably complex permutations, projection systems for massive film screens, most tellingly he made the whole thing with only two rough sketches.
The tower was conceived to rival the Eiffel Tower, an engineers marvel, by proving the superiority of an expressive ideology. Tatlin was a sculptor not an engineer.

Once I began to work in a way that paid more attention to the feel of the object the problems cleared up and a solution appeared, should i say many solutions appeared.

A VR Quicktime image is here It will probably require a macintosh with Quicktime installed. I have not yet had the opportunity to test it on a pc.