Towering Structures

Eiffel Tower, Paris

Towers are everywhere. From the first towers of Yemen, to the Empire State building and the recent Orbit Tower for the London Olympics.

Towers are also made from a whole host of materials, including wood, metal, paper and humans!

They represent life, achievement and death. Monuments like “Monument” in London pay homage to disasters (The Fire of London), The Eiffel Tower represents human enterprise and beauty, and the Tower of London was a prison and an execution site.

Rachel Whiteread, Embankment, Tate Modern 2005-2006

They create patterns, shadows, surfaces, textures and light – all materials for the artist to play with.

Towers tell stories….

The English artist John Smith made a short film in the ’70s called “The Black Tower’. In it, he explored the idea of a tower following him around his neighbourhood. He used trick photography so the tower appeared to move

The Eiffel Tower is a triumph of Engineering, made of an iron skeleton and symbolizing the modern industrial era.

The Tower of Pisa soon became the leaning tower of pisa when, due to poor foundations, it began to sink.