The Forevertron

The Forevertron (1986), the central sculpture of the Art Park, is both an artistic masterpiece and, as a fully functional intergalactic time traveling machine, a scientific and technological wonder. It draws people from around the world—both those simply wanting to see the legendary work for themselves, and those seeking to connect with its power on a deeper level.

Dr. Evermor, aka Tom Every, along with his son, Thayer, and several other crew members built the Forevertron from 1983 to 1986 as the first major sculpture in the Art Park. Over 100 feet long, 65 feet high and weighing 300 tons, the solid, formidable metal structure rises above the trees, a creation of both powerful machinery and delicate artwork. In fact, the piece is so large that in 1999 it made the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s largest scrap metal project.

Dr. Evermor’s grand vision was to build a device that could propel him into the heavens on a magnetic lightning force beam. Ignoring skeptics, he devoted his life to making his dream a reality. To accomplish this unearthly task though, he relied on a unique variety of earthly materials—mostly salvaged pieces and metals from across the state of Wisconsin. Many with a story of their own, the pieces are more than visually pleasing. Each plays a definitive role in the functioning of the Forevertron.

Perhaps the part of the Forevertron the catches the eye first is the travel chamber, the oval-shaped object found in the top center of the sculpture. In this glass sphere, Dr. Evermor travels through time and space. Before it traveled space though, the glass globe sat on the Mars Hamburger Stand in Green Bay. The copper egg surrounding it protects the chamber during travel.

Launching the travel chamber with enough force to break the bonds of gravity and the confines of our time realm requires an extraordinary amount of power. Dr. Evermor carefully designed a long, complex launch sequence to produce and focus the required energy. To start the process, Dr. Evermor turns on a switch that activates the battery stack. The batteries were obtained from Badger Army Ammunition Plant where they were used to back up switchboards in powerhouses. The battery stack starts two exciter motors which help activate the steam engine, originally a huge compressor at the Edgewater Power Plant in Sheboygan. The steam comes from underground conventional coal-fired boilers and from the earth itself—geothermal power. On the opposite side, geothermal steam powers a smaller engine, the Edison Bipolar Dynamos, which produces more power. Dr. Evermor first saw these dynamos as a child at the Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan and immediately recognized something special about them. When they went up for sale years later, he bought them. The electrical current then runs through five resistors, which came from the Prairie du Sac powerhouse, before feeding into the thrusters.

The giant thrusters, one of the most distinctive parts of the Forevertron, rise up in the center of the machine, pointing toward the travel chamber. Dr. Evermor used salvaged metals from Palmyra Iron and Metal along with pieces of an agricultural irrigation system and boiler tubes salvaged from Wisconsin Electric in Milwaukee to build them. Collecting the powerful current, the thrusters shoot their electrical beam (the lightning force) toward the chamber.

At this same time, magnetic power, transferred from the Magnetic Holding Chamber, is added to the mix. The Magnetic Holding Chamber already had a tie to space travel before joining the Forevertron. Dr. Evermor obtained it from the University of Wisconsin which had gotten it from NASA where it was used as an isolation unit for astronauts returning from the moon. This combination of magnetic force and electrical current creates the magnetic lightning force beam able to propel the chamber—and anyone inside it—into the heavens.

The electrical current and magnetic force are important sources of energy—and the complex process that refines them is necessary for the success of the Forevertron. But by themselves, they aren’t enough. In order to break the barriers of time and space, the Forevertron must also draw on something more than the scientific powers of steam engines, battery stacks, and magnetic forces. It requires a power even greater than the power from the earth it harnesses as geothermal steam. For the Forevertron to work, it must draw on the inner energy of the traveler. Just as the Forevertron’s technological pieces free the travel chamber from physical barriers, a traveler must free his mind from any emotional and cognitive barriers holding him back. She must reach within to find an inner level 7 love that allows her to unlock the soul and access the energy there—a mystical energy that most people have not learned how to harness. This is the final energy source necessary for the Forevertron to function at its fullest capacity.

Before the Forevertron can take off, Dr. Evermor must make sure everything is in order. He climbs the circular Stairway to Heaven to the Wind Spin where he checks the weather before crossing the little bridge to the travel chamber. Directly below him, two sets of lights signal the progress or warn of problems. Originally, these lights signaled to barges on the Mississippi River. Nearby, the control panel now used to turn the entire machine on once had the more mundane job of controlling elevators in Madison’s state capital.

Expecting mockery from some, Dr. Evermor made sure to include special accommodations for doubters. A royal gazebo, complete with a reclining cocoon chair, affords doubters an up-close view. On the opposite side of the Forevertron, a huge telescope allows them to track his progress as he travels into the sky. And when launches occur at night, search lights, made from cooking pots from a candy factory, coffee urns and outer rims of agricultural wheels, provide enough light for all to see.

Dr. Evermor continues to use the Forevertron to explore time and space. Time traveling tokens allow others to draw on the power of the Forevertron to reach deeper into unknown realms. If you come on the right day, maybe you can witness one of his launches. You can watch him systematically prepare the machine for take-off and hear the sounds of the Forevertron coming to life.

Or even better, with your own time traveling token, maybe you can join him on one of his adventures.

Author Credit: Leslie Huber