Nikolay Polissky

Authors: Nikolay Polissky

Location & Date: Village of Nikola-Lenivets, Kaluga Region, 2004

Size: height 16m, base diameter 12m

The following summer (2004), yet another tower appeared in Nikolay Polissky’s ‘art village’, this time made from large branches. The tower narrowed towards the top and ended in a circular ‘turret’, which visitors could ascend using an internal spiral staircase, giving them a view over the surrounding landscape from a height of about 16 metres. The crude wooden branches from which the tower was made not only gave it strength, but also visually connected it with the environs and the forest, which begins a short distance away. The observation turret was circular, and its exterior was spiked with long metal rods which made it look like a wooden hedgehog that had climbed to the top of a tree or bush. This was a kind of village ‘Lighthouse’. The tower is still to be seen in the village of Nikola-Lenivets; it is Polissky’s most long-lived work to date, having functioned as a ‘natural’ exhibit for a number of years.