when i told my friend patrick that i would be in madison for the summer, he said
"ive heard about this thing called the Forevertron. I'm not sure where it is


















only that its somewhere in wisconsin.


















but if you can find anything out about it, you have to go! I dont even know exactly WHAT it is.


















Ive only heard that its amazing!"

i did some research. Forevertron is located about an hour outside of Madison. It is the worlds largest scrap metal sculpture. 320 tons. It is off highway 12.

When you go in, you're not sure what to expect, other than you get this vague feeling that you're entering some sort of wierd junkyard. And then you realize that there's a system. That you're looking at some sort of planned structure, and that theres a narrative going on here.


































its really hard to get these sculptures in pictures. i kept trying to get the scale of things, but then you get up closer and you see the event that they depict,















then you get up even closer and you see that their interior is made up of a scale from the chicago meat market in the early 20th century, 65 doorbells all welded together, half a fire engine cab, etc etc.






























This is Tom Every,



























who renamed himself Dr. Evermore after he gave his scrap metal demolition business to his son and started building the Forevertron (when he was in his 40's). all of the works here are made of scrap metal that was collected from his demo business. Dr Evermore was very happy to sit and talk about his work for awhile.



















Above is one of the more purely decorative sculptures. it is of a series of sea serpents. you can play their scales, which sound like a xylophone. dr evermore's wife eleanor played them for us, it rang out over the park, briefly overshadowing the 2001 theme song that was playing faintly in the background. 2001 had started to play a few minutes after tom and eleanor got there, but i never saw them go anywhere they could have hit play on any soundsystem from, and theres no one else who works there with them, so i dont know how it got turned on. and it only played once.

I asked Evermore about the work, the land, his history - his demolition business was industrial demo only, so they took down the big stuff, a lot of industrial factories, businesses, some labs. There is a piece in one of his works from one of the NASA decontamination units that were used to decontaminate the samples collected from the Apollo mission. There are also pieces from the Ford Museum, constructed by Thomas Edison.





























there are signs describing these sculptures as "sculptures of history". what happens when we take little parts of all these things that have previous cultural baggage/meaning, and then make something new with them - with what extent do the history of these objects color their reincarnation?





















Dr Evermore just said that he saved metal he thought was interesting and then wanted a way to recycle it so that nothing was wasted. but he didnt talk about why these forms, this story. thats his to know, i suppose.

this is another decorative work. an orchestra made up of bird figures.













































a lot of the smaller pieces in the park resemble human forms,




































aliens,






















spiders


















and birds.




















Evermore said he really liked birds, because "birds can just take off and go wherever they want to, whenever." we talked about how the sky and beings in the sky seemed like a recurring theme, and Evermore elaborated.




























There are many sculptures here, but several of the larger ones are specifically based on transmitting energy to or from the heavens and/or beings from space. the Futuretron sculptures are both constructed around a narrative of a "young scientist trying to send himself into space on a beam of energy" as well as being a series of experiential units that human beings could utilize in order to better view and interact with visiting celestial beings once they arrive on earth.
























above is the alien landing platform. "when something lands on it, the bird sculptures are all pointing like they're looking up, so they will be like a kind of greeting to whoever is arriving."
















And the pictures above and below are of the Celestial Listening Field, where people can sit and hear transmissions from space.













And, Dr Evermore said, "if the people in the gazebo speak into the speakers, the celestial beings may hear what they are saying as well."

Below is the main Overlord Control Center, "which is currently unfinished",














and which controls all the information coming into and going out of the Forevertron.






























And in the image above, behind the bird, you can make out the Epicurean Mobile, "where you can stop and have a snack if you get hungry".

I asked Dr Evermore if he is working on anything else in the near future, and he showed me some sketches from his sketchbook. He has been crafting a series that is along the same scale as the Forevertron, but a little different thematically. Its going to be amazing. Hopefully he will let me know when it will be installed. He said he needs some welders to help him finish the remaining pieces until his physical therapy is further along. (Evermore is now 57, and has been getting over a stroke for the past several months.) Talking to him was very inspiring - his energy, enthusiasm and drive are amazing, as are his belief in and support for public art and for doing what you believe (you can read more about him and his work in the spring/summer issue of Public Art Review Magazine).

Any welders looking for work in Wisconsin this summer should call Dr Evermore. He can be reached at the number for Delaneys Surplus in Baraboo, WI.