Say hello to ‘Wilson’
Bend’s Chris Cole has created an emperor penguin — complete with flapping wings
wriiten by Andrew Moore
If you’ve seen the recent movies “March of the Penguins,” “Happy Feet” or “Surf’s Up,” you’re likely familiar with emperor penguins, the big, hardy Antarctic birds resilient enough to withstand the coldest temperatures on Earth (as well as dance and surf, apparently).
Arrayed with other emperors, “Wilson” would fit right in, although he’s a little stiff and sure to sink if thrown in the sea.
“Wilson” is a life-size sculpture of an emperor penguin created by Bend artist Chris Cole. He stands four-feet tall, like real emperors, weighs close to 100 pounds, like real emperors, and flaps his wings, like, you guessed it, real emperors.
This penguin, however, is cold to the touch. He’s made from five different types of carbon steel, has washers for eyes and an electric, worm-drive motor for a heart. Plug him in and “Wilson” springs to life. His wings slowly lift up several inches than gently fall back against his sides. The rhythmic whir of his little motor even sounds like a penguin (if you use your imagination).
“Wilson,” named in honor of prominent English explorer and polar researcher Edward Wilson, is the latest creation from Cole, a former bicycle mechanic who creates moving works of art using old motors, gears and bicycle parts. Cole calls his pieces “kinetic sculptures,” as they often twist or turn when mechanical or electric power is applied.
Favorite subjects for Cole are birds and fish. “Wilson” was the perfect fit, he said.
Cole’s first job was assembling bicycles at a department store. He said he’s always been drawn to moving parts, and it developed into a career as a bicycle mechanic. That in turn helped his art, as it supplied him with access to an endless stream of potential parts for his unique sculptures.
However, Cole recently quit working as a mechanic so he could dedicate himself to his art. The garage of the east Bend home he shares with his wife, Sweet Pea, is chocked full of workbenches, tools and cabinets of hardware. Cole is starting to move away from bike parts, too, preferring to fabricate items from scratch. To help with the custom work, Cole uses a plasma cutter, a high-tech saw for cutting designs from sheet metal. The machine has also helped inspire him.
“When I got the plasma cutter, it was almost overwhelming because my brain was all locked up with possibilities,” said Cole.
When choosing how to power one of his sculptures, Cole might use bicycle parts to assemble a hand-powered engine. He also uses electric motors. When he was a child, Cole used to cannibalize his parents’ appliances. Then he discovered Radio Shack. Now he always has close at hand a well-worn catalog from a surplus company in Nebraska that specializes in small motors.
But Cole can’t just buy any motor for his pieces. He has to calculate the technical stuff, such as torque requirements, weight, rpms, etc.
“It gets complicated,” said Cole.
Cole has a definite mechanical aptitude. However, he said he’s not very good at math, which is why he never pursued an engineering degree.
“I’m not designing rockets, just making things move,” he said.
Cole also paints, often surreal images of cartoonish creatures. In contrast to his sculptures, which often are the same gun metal gray, Cole’s paintings are vivid with color.
“Wilson,” though, does have a bit of color. Real emperors have swaths of yellow and orange on their necks, and Cole has reproduced the look — albeit more artistically than is natural — with bands of fiery orange on the sculpture’s neck and flank, It’s the first time Cole has added color to one of his kinetic sculptures.
Cole did so at the behest of Chuck Cross, the Bend man who commissioned “Wilson.” Cross is the owner of Polar Cruises, a touring company that specializes in expedition cruises to the planet’s poles. Cross has been to Antarctica 47 times and as a result, he knows penguins. One of his tours drops tourists off at the rookery made famous in “March of the Penguins.”
Sadly, Cross reports, that same colony has declined in population by roughly half since the birds were filmed in 2003.
Being a man with an affinity for Antarctica, Cross sought out Cole to “create a lawn ornament” for his front yard. Cross wanted an emperor penguin.
Cole said yes and got to work. During the two months it took Cole to study emperors, draft a design and get to work assembling “Wilson,” Cross decided the sculpture was too magnificent to languish on his lawn. Instead, Cross has put “Wilson” up for auction, with the proceeds to benefit Oceanities. a nonprofit science and education foundation that monitors penguin and seabird populations in Antarctica.
The auction opened Nov. 1 but as of Thursday, no one has bid the opening amount of $5,000. Cross hopes it will fetch between $10,000 to $15,000 by the time the auction closes Dec. 23.
“If it works, I’ll do more, and if not, I got a lawn ornament,” said Cross.
the Bulletin