Ai Weiwei, Fountain of Light, 2007                        Tatlin’s construcivist tower design, 1919

The original tower was designed by Vladimir Tatlin in 1919 as a celebration of the formation of the Communist Third International after the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. Designed as part of the Constructivist movement it was supposed to be made from steel, iron and glass. These components were significant as they were symbolic of power, hope and modernity. It was going to be over 400m high, taller than the Eiffel tower, but never actually got constructed due to a lack of materials. Ai Weiwei transformed Tatlin’s monumental constructivist design into an 8 meter tall chandelier. Lit with 800 lightbulbs, it was shown at the Tate Liverpool, floating in the Albert Dock. It was a site specific work, designed specifically for Liverpool. This was particularly relevant due to Tatlin’s tower’s links with industrialisation which played such a big part in shaping modern Europe, especially Liverpool.

Their manifesto states that a constructivist object is ‘simply a product of an industrial order like a car, an aeroplane and such like.’ The fact it has been turned into this decorative chandelier made of crystal completely undermines the original constructivist ideals of powerful, strong utopian design. However I don’t think that Ai Weiwei is mocking Tatlin’s ideals by transforming his tower into a chandelier. Ai’s tower can definitely be seen as a tribute to Tatlin’s tower which was never realised.

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www.wikiart.org. (2017). Monument to the Third International, 1919 – 1920 – Vladimir Tatlin. [online] Available at: https://www.wikiart.org/en/vladimir-tatlin/monument-to-the-third-international-1920 [Accessed 7 Dec. 2017].

Mundy, J. (2017). Lost Art: Vladimir Tatlin. [online] Tate.org.uk. Available at: http://www.tate.org.uk/context-comment/articles/lost-art-vladimir-tatlin [Accessed 7 Dec. 2017].

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