The Incredible Spire (The Watts Towers)
Zoom and Share Buttons
Object Details
Artist/Maker
Clarence John Laughlin, American, 1905–1985
Date
1960
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
Image: 13 5/8 × 10 3/16 inches
Mounted: 19 9/16 × 16 1/8 inches
Credit
Gift of Jane and Clay Jackson in honor of David A. Brenneman
Accession #
2015.161
Description
Laughlin was fascinated by the simple nature and design of the Watts Towers. The Towers consisted of a group of steel and mosaic structures built in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, California between 1921 and 1954 by Simon Rodia, a construction worker and tile mason. Rodia, like Laughlin, was untrained and built a structure that many thought was not sturdy enough. Ironically, when the city tried to take the towers down due to this fear, they were unable to because they were so well built. Laughlin loved this story of an autodidact outwitting those in power.