New Color Image for "Never Enough"

The "Tesla," found as a black and white photo on page 133 of Never Enough is here reproduced in color.  This work was created over a period of months in 1980–1981 by the eccentric Tom Every (Dr. Evermor) and Alex Jordan.  It reaches more than fifty feet from floor to ceiling in the Organ Room at The House on the Rock.  The work is named after one of Tom's heros, Nicola Tesla, something of an eccentric himself.  It is an industrial fantasy in which Every found his artistic voice.  soon after the completion of this piece, Tom struck off in his own direction eventually becoming a well-known visionary sculptor. The "Tesla" is an assemblage of industrial found objects on a massive scale; the found components are combined without changes to the individual  pieces to create a huge work.

This piece is one of the first examples of Tom's aesthetic method.  Since his early days as a boy in Brooklyn, Wisconsin, he was fascinated with what he calls "the spirit" of the tools and machines that he salvaged. He wanted viewers to see all of the parts as alive with the spirit of those who used or made them.  He built with respect for the "historic Integrity" of the past.  Tom puts it this way: "The reason you don't alter anything [is] you're making a statement, a very strong statement—I like you, it's just fine the way you are.  Whether it's a little part, or a human being, or anything else, instead of hacking away at it you take your wire feed [welder] and blend it together" (from A Mythic Obsession, page 66).

Tom is still around, although time and illness have taken their toll.  He still occasionally, with the help of friends and family, can be found at his sculpture site working on new whimsical creations.