About
The View From Here is based on the event of the 1904 Worlds Fair, a complex and fascinating event which took place in Forest Park, and which drew millions of visitors to St. Louis to marvel at the wonders of the world as they were then represented. Among the most magnificent sights of the Fair was the 264-foot high Ferris Wheel, a rival of the Eiffel Tower as a statement of the engineering of the time. Its 16-foot diameter axle weighed 89,320 pounds. When the wheel was finally destroyed, it is said that the enormous axle was never found. The Ferris Wheel’s cars were 24 feet long, 13 feet wide, paneled with glass, and could carry enough passengers to host the occasional wedding ceremony, while offering guests magnificent views of the fair. This work takes a visual slice through the wheel, as if you were looking through Eskimo snow glasses at it, in elevation. Because there was scant historical drawing information to be found, this slice is a reconstructed fiction, in nearly full scale. (www.ellendriscoll.net)
Dimensions: 240′
Year Completed: 2006
Material: Sandblasted mirrored glass, installed with a protective beveled concrete edge, applied directly to the existing concrete retaining wall
Owner: MetroArts