Space tower

In 1895, the Russian visionary Konstantin Tsiolkowsky, presented a plan to build a tower with a height of thousands of kilometres. At the top of this tower a castle was to be build. Because of the centrifugal power of the rotating earth the tower would be kept in an upright position.
Like a stone at the end of a rope being swung around.
In 1895 this idea and plan of Konstantin Tsiolkowsky was considered absurd. The construction material available at the time was steel that was too heavy and not strong enough.
Even in the current time many people will consider Konstantin Tsiolkowsky an idiot and phantast unable to be realistic.
However, in 1991 nanotubes were discovered. Nanotubes are cylindrical carbon molecules that are many times stronger and lighter than steel. With this material cables are being woven with which the plan of Konstantin Tsiolkowsky can be made a reality.
In September 2003, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA, a congress was organised where the conclusion was made that we now have the technical abilities to make Konstantin Tsiolkowsky’s plan come true and commercial justifications are there also.
It is expected that in 20 years time, in 2023, this elevator to the sky will have become a reality.

This is a true story and it gives hope.
Pioneering in photography makes the photographer a Konstantin Tsiolkowsky.
Not understood nor recognized during the lifetime.
The belief in the pioneering photography is only coming from the creator. Initiative and motivation as well. It is a lonely affair. The reality is that although he still is very productive only a very few people from the world of art show actively an interest in what is being pioneered.
By now that is taken as a good sign. Photography that suddenly becomes very successful these days, has disappeared completely some years later.
Success and recognition are therefore not objectives. If there would be success, it would be a reason to be very suspicious about the innovative and longer-term qualities of the photography. It might indicate it has only the quality of temporary entertainment.
And recognition is not what feels is needed.
The most recent work, the PS-series, has been museum quality printed by master-printer Peter Paul Huf from Amsterdam. The works are signed and in a limited edition.
But they are not actively promoted. No appointments are made with curators of museums, art-critics or collectors to show the new work. The beautiful PS-series are safely with Galerie Baudoin Lebon in Paris and the only priority the maker has is to make more and better.
That is the main task. To make as much new work as possible. To penetrate the unknown territories, using creativity, as deep as he can get.
Production is relevant.
Marketing irrelevant.

Konstantin Tsiolkowsky had his fascinating vision in 1895. In 2023 his tower will have been build. 128 years later.
We are now in 2006. You are all cordially invited for his retrospective in the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 2134.

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For more information on Konstantin Tsiolkowsky, click on:
http://www.informatics.org/museum/tsiol.html

For more information on nanotubes, click on:
http://www.pa.msu.edu/cmp/csc/ntproperties/

To contact master-printer Peter-Paul Huf, send e-mail to:
hetlab@tip.nl