Six of the most unconventional whirligigs you will EVER see
Here are six unusual whirligigs that were in exhibited in museums in New York, Baltimore and elsewhere. These delightful wind-driven pieces were created by retired surgeon, Ben Thal. Thal has made around 60 complex whirligigs in the last 10 years, devoting four to six weeks for the drafting, carving, painting and assembling of each one.
The Seattle Times did a nice write up of Ben Thal back in 1997. We learn a lot of interesting things about him such as the fact that he does the carving for his whirligigs actual surgical scalpels and that his condo has also been turned into something of a whirligig factory. Read the full article titled Spin Doctor -- Former Surgeon Ben Thal Builds Humor Into His Witty, Whimsical Whirligigs for more details on this fascinating man.
See more amazing whirligigs by Ben Thal on his YouTube Channel.
Labels: Ben Thal, figures, humorous, occupations, whirligigs, wind, wood
posted by Dug North on 7/10/2012
2 Comments:
Ben Thal was the person that got me started making figurative pieces. We were both in a whirligig show in Salem, OR in '94. I met him and saw his Sword Swallower and Chicken Soup piece in action. After that I started making figures and the rest is history. He does make amazing, and smooth running, pieces.
Also, the "60 whirligigs in the last 10 years" line was written in '97.
tom
Thanks for the back-story, Tom! It's really neat to know what inspired you to get started. Any idea how many he's made to date? I can update the post. Otherwise I can simply qualify it.
-Dug
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