Komodo Dragons

Dr. Evermor has always recognized the power inherent in music. That can be seen from his work on the Bird Band. It can also be seen in the Komodo Dragons (2004). The five intergalactic dragons, each 55 feet long and weighing 11,000 pounds, bring joy to those who visit the Art Park with their music.

While not originally earthly creatures of course, the Komodo Dragons have chosen to make Earth their home. Peaceful by nature, the Dragons get their energy by sucking up sand through their elongated reddish-brown snouts, then use that special level 7 energy to make music. Besides creating their own music, they also provide humans the opportunity to compose music. The backs and necks of the creatures are lined with red “Tibetan singing bowls”, which look like inverted bells, ranging in size from short and squat to long and thin. Nearby, a visitor can find different types of mallets that can be used to strike the bells and build a tune from the melodic, haunting notes the dragons produce.

Dr. Evermor and his assistants made the dragon bodies out of U-shaped 10-inch boiler tubing from a Milwaukee powerhouse that they cut and assembled to form the long, slighting curving lines that make up the basic shape of the dragons. The head is constructed of unusual compressor rings with holes in them that Dr. Evermor obtained from the Badger Army Ammunition Plant. The mouths are constructed from stainless steel parts from the Beloit Corporation while the whiskers are made from the odd Fiskars parts.

Each dragon has 500 scales that run from the top of his neck down over his body. The scales were shaped to fit the curve of the dragons’ bodies by using a hand-operated roll press on surplus round metal stampings. To make the bells that perch on the dragons’ backs, Dr. Evermor used surplus oxygen tanks, recognizing that their spun metal composition would enable them to make a range of melodic pitches when struck. The large, round dragon eyes that peer gently down at visitors below them were adapted from salvaged backup hydraulic tanks. Since peaceful dragons have no need of claws, the dragons’ feet have thick, steel three-inch circular “sand pads” instead.

Author Credit: Leslie Huber