Inventor of downtown Ann Arbor's new 'Whirlydoodles' is looking to go big with next phase
After an initial test run in downtown Ann Arbor, local inventor Tim Jones is hoping to roll out his colorful, spinning Whirlydoodle creations on a grander scale.
Think hundreds. Maybe thousands.
About 20 of the small windmills with changing colored lights were installed on light poles around downtown Ann Arbor and elsewhere back in January.
"We've had a tremendous amount of public response," Jones said. "We feel the project has a lot of scientific interest not only for young people but for adults.
Tim Jones demonstrates his Whirlydoodle creation earlier this year.
Angela J. Cesere | AnnArbor.com
Joined by Dave Konkle, energy programs director for the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority, Jones approached the Ann Arbor Public Art Commission this week.
Konkle said they've talked it over with Aaron Seagraves, the city's public art coordinator, and it doesn't seem likely the city's public art fund could help pay for the next phase.
"We've worked with Aaron and we've tried to understand what are the rules for the commission and the money and everything else and we don't see a way," Konkle said of funding them with city money. "They would have to be, as I understand it, in place for two years."
The trouble with funding Whirlydoodles using public art funds is they aren't all that permanent. According to information submitted to the Art Commission, they have a two-year useful life.
But Jones and Konkle are still seeking the Art Commission's blessing of the idea of mass-producing Whirlydoodles and installing them somewhere prominently. They tossed out the idea of a large installation on the hillside of the landfill at Platt and Ellsworth roads as one option.
The name of the project they're trying to fund is "Visual Wind: A 3D Color Experience." Jones and Konkle submitted formal plans to the commission showing fabrication of 1,000 Whirlydoodles and related materials, including installation, would cost $88,550.
Konkle said Big George's Home Appliance Mart already has committed $10,000 to the project and he's hopeful the Art Commission could help identify other potential funding sources.
They expect to have support from various groups, including the DDA, Ann Arbor SPARK, the Ann Arbor Convention and Visitors Bureau and others.
There wasn't a decision on the Whirlydoodle project this week, but Seagraves said the Art Commission will consider an endorsement of the large installation as a public art project.
"The project is a short-term installation, so it is not likely to be a fundable project using the Art in Public Places funds," he acknowledged.
Jones and Konkle say the immediate appeal of Whirlydoodles is created by their wind speed-dependent color and representation of the rhythm of the normally invisible wind.
"Tim has tinkered over several years to perfect the persistence of vision effect produced by wind-activated mechanisms in the belief that social reaction to a new technology is shaped by emotional appeal and that certain technological representations of environmental processes enhance our experience with nature," the project statement reads.
More recently, Jones has been working to understand the visual effects produced by the sculptural composition of multiple Whirlydoodles.
The project Jones has in mind consists of 1,000 Whirlydoodles installed on a hillside or sloping open area. The windmills would be set in an array across a landscape, with each individual windmill responding to wind speed by producing changes in color and brightness.
A Whirlydoodle installed on a street light post downtown.
Angela J. Cesere | AnnArbor.com
The purpose of the installation is twofold: to create an active artistic landscape where wind currents create movement and lighting and to spark interest in alternative energy.
"It will not only be beautiful but it will be educational," Konkle said. "It would be nationally, as an art project, something that would get noticed. And we've talked with the mayor and the Energy Commission — it would also make Ann Arbor have more wind generators than any other city in the world. … It's a fun project and we're just pursuing this silly dream."
Over the period of several weeks in January, and with the blessing of the DDA, about 20 Whirlydoodles were placed randomly on light poles in the downtown area, including a line of six in a row along the south side of Washington Street between Fourth and Main streets.
Right now the largest installation of Whirlydoodles is at the Leslie Science Center where there are 20 of them on a hillside. Those were installed this month for Earth Day.
"And Tim and I continue to look around town at parks, at businesses, wherever they might be welcome," Konkle said, adding: "I think art in public places is the only thing you can kind of call these Whirlydoodles showing up around town and getting people's attention."
Ryan J. Stanton covers government and politics for AnnArbor.com. Reach him at ryanstanton@annarbor.com or 734-623-2529. You also can follow him on Twitter or subscribe to AnnArbor.com's email newsletters.
Comments
Tanzor
Mon, Apr 30, 2012 : 1:24 p.m.
Please take your Whirlydoodles and go home, I don't want my tax payer money wasted on this type of junk.
julieswhimsies
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 10:06 p.m.
What did they put in the water in A2 today to produce all these grouches?
mrgrumpy
Sun, Apr 29, 2012 : 4 p.m.
I agree, juliewhimsies. Ann Arbor used to be a town known for it tolerance; now it seems to becoming a town know for its cynics.
Go Blue
Sun, Apr 29, 2012 : 2:38 a.m.
Julieswhimsies, you are right and its hard not to notice all the negative comments. Opinions, for or not for, are one thing but some of the comments are unnecessarily nasty.
Unusual Suspect
Sun, Apr 29, 2012 : 2:36 a.m.
I'd rather have what's in the water than what's in the Koolaid.
Wolf's Bane
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 11:20 p.m.
Since we are closing schools
julieswhimsies
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 9:52 p.m.
OH! I so want one!
ArgoC
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 9 p.m.
Oh please, Mr. Jones, consider something other than a thousand of them all in one place! How about clumps or parades of them in many locations? One of the fun things about a good city is the surprise factor. This is entirely different from the "destination," approach you're taking. It would be much more fun to come across a cluster unexpectedly. In other words, instead of an art installation, how about adding to the overall city experience? P.S. at $88.55 each, can I get one?
Wolf's Bane
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 7:27 p.m.
I would loved to have been a fly on the wall during the pitch: Whirlydoodle creator: "I made these, their super-cool and you need to buy them for your city!" City representative: "Oh, neat, how much?" Whirlydoodle creator: "Only 88K for limited time. Act now, operators are standing by." City representative: "Oh boy, it ain't money that I'm spending, let's do it!" City representative should be fired or have his/her mouth taped shut.
jcj
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 7:12 p.m.
Does anyone remember when we used to be proud to say we were from Ann Arbor? Seems like a lifetime.
julieswhimsies
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 9:55 p.m.
I live in Dexter. I am proud to live here...but I am also proud to live just next door to one of the most interesting small cities in the country. Ann Arbor rocks!
JRW
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 7:02 p.m.
Tacky. Note that the photo for the story is taken when it's dark against a dark background which is when the colors are visible.The photo of the object in the daylight attached to a lamp post does nothing. The entire project is tacky and looks like a Chinese cheap toy.
julieswhimsies
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 9:56 p.m.
Well, JRW, let's insult an entire country over this.
kittybkahn
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 4:16 p.m.
You can indeed purchase these. See the website: http://whirlydoodle.com/project
kittybkahn
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 4:05 p.m.
I love these and would much prefer to see a bunch of them outside the new city hall rather than the 'fountain' that is there now.
dading dont delete me bro
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 4 p.m.
looks like a county fair midway to me. 3 balls for a $1 anybody? step right up and win!
Mark Arnold
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 3:06 p.m.
It's hard to say he "invented" these things. It's hardly an original idea, and they don't actually serve any real function.
Unusual Suspect
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 2:44 p.m.
I'm not impressed by these things. Seeing them at Vets park in front of the trees and garden is not an enhancement to the park, it's a detraction. And this: "the persistence of vision effect produced by wind-activated mechanisms in the belief that social reaction to a new technology is shaped by emotional appeal and that certain technological representations of environmental processes enhance our experience with nature." That's just art-babble. I have a new sled I want to build and I want the public to pay for it. It's art. It's an expression of the forces on the human spirit that we all experience in our lives, represented by the kinetic movement of a human being down a frozen aquatic plane at the mercy of the gravitational forces of mother Earth, but slightly attenuated by the resistive force of wind against the uncontrolled forward progression of the body, and the equalizing forces we eventually reach in a level environment in the end. See, anybody can make up psychodrivel to make himself sound deep.
Ross
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 2:36 p.m.
Sorry Tim, the initial installation was fun, sort of, but please, no more. When I first saw these up in downtown, I thought some kids had pranked our town by slapping plastic chinese toys to our lamp-posts. They just don't look good. And are completely pointless. How about we take off the tacky LEDs, make them 4 times as large, and feed the power generation back into the grid?
DNB
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 2:56 p.m.
That's the same reaction I had, Ross, when I saw one last fall attached to an AATA bus-stop sign on S. Main Street, just in front of Busch's. I even contacted the AATA, to let them know someone had attached a "toy" or something to their bus-stop sign overnight, as I travel that street daily. He said he didn't know anything about it, and he'd go out later in the day to check it out. He called me back, after he and another guy went by, and said they were part of the whirlydoodle project. This made me laugh; putting them on AATA signs, and AATA knew nothing about them. I think they're tacky on the signs, street lamps, and especially at Vets ... reminds me of *those* homes that have too many yard ornaments. They are not art.
Dog Guy
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 2:29 p.m.
Ann Arbor now has exactly the right number of Whirlydoodles. They will be spoken of fondly after they are retired. We will make spinning gestures with a finger as we tell the incredulous young of our crazy Whirlydoodle days, somewhat like we will describe the Dreiseitl thing then stored behind the Wheeler building on Stone School Road.
LA
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 2:15 p.m.
Why so many negative comments? It's a great idea. It's local art - just like everyone claims to want! He's using donations (tho I think the % for art would be good for this). What's the problem? It's fun and attractive and makes people think. Awesome! Put em on my block!
julieswhimsies
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 10 p.m.
I agree LA! Should we get rid of all the fairy doors, as well? People are so grouchy today!
Ross
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 2:34 p.m.
The negative comments are because they are ugly and pointless. I don't like the idea of using more resources to build 1000 more.
Ron Granger
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 2:03 p.m.
How are blinking lights, making noise in the wind, attractive in our greenspaces? When I look at a grassy hill, I just want to see a grassy hill. How do the birds like them? Maybe they should change the name to nature repeller. And Newsflash: attaching LEDs to spinning objects to create POV effects is not new.
julieswhimsies
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 10:01 p.m.
When I see a grassy hill, I don't want to see a bunch of cheaply built McMansions, either. Now THOSE are offensive.
Fred Crothers
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 2:02 p.m.
For my money I think that $88 thousand dollars would go a long way towards an additional policeman or Firefighter. OR maybe even towards a new TRUCK!!!
zanzerbar
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 2:01 p.m.
I'll pay $8.00 to put one on the rear of my bicycle for night riding.
zanzerbar
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 5:57 p.m.
Just found out the cost: $59.99......ouch.
mr_annarbor
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 1:28 p.m.
These things are amusing, but art? I think not. Ann Arbor has much better things to spend $88 k on.
julieswhimsies
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 10:02 p.m.
Oh yeah. Let's define art again.
Brad
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 1:25 p.m.
"to perfect the persistence of vision effect produced by wind-activated mechanisms in the belief that social reaction to a new technology is shaped by emotional appeal and that certain technological representations of environmental processes enhance our experience with nature" Fluff-speak alert! Who writes this stuff?
Unusual Suspect
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 2:49 p.m.
To steal from an Al Stewart song, "Like a black hole in space, or philosophy, useless but profound."
Go Blue
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 1:21 p.m.
Wow peg dash fab, that's quite a comment there! Thanks for sharing.
RUKiddingMe
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 1:20 p.m.
I was horrified to discover these things weren't generating power for the lights they were attached to. Horrified because these things are pretty ugly and chintzy looking. It's sad that Ann Arbor is so ridiculous that I can't just safely assume that no tax dollars would be spent on the development or installation of these things.
kittybkahn
Sun, Apr 29, 2012 : 1:36 a.m.
Where do you get your information? This is the first paragraph in the article I linked: Tim Jones works as a lawyer, but he moonlights as an inventor. And his first patent already shows potential: spinning doohickeys that use the wind to power LEDs that change color as they speed up.
A2Ray
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 8:03 p.m.
kittybkahn: These whirlydoodles do NOT use wind to power the lights they are ATTACHED to, as RUKiddingMe suggested. The whirlydoodles use wind energy to create energy that generates the power for the LED lights of the whirlydoodle ONLY. The colors change with the wind's speed and direction.
kittybkahn
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 4:13 p.m.
These do indeed use wind to power the lights. See previous article here: http://www.annarbor.com/entertainment/whirlydoodle-project/
peg dash fab
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 1:07 p.m.
The proliferation of whirly doodles (did a four-year old make up this name?) makes our town look cheap and tacky. They are not art, not beautiful, not innovative, and they are not educational. What they are is trash.
bobslowson
Mon, Apr 30, 2012 : 12:54 p.m.
One person's trash is another's treasure!
Ross
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 2:32 p.m.
Going to have to agree with you here. They look like a chinese made toy to me.
thinker
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 12:45 p.m.
And no one thinks this would lead to distracted driving?
Jake C
Sun, Apr 29, 2012 : 8:18 p.m.
No more distracting than Christmas light displays do in the winter. Far less distracting than some displays I've seen, for sure. Haven't heard many people clamor to ban Christmas lights to protect our drivers.
djsell
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 12:27 p.m.
This is what makes Ann arbor,..well..Ann arbor!..great unique projects and pursuits..Tim is a class act , a great legal mind with a little artsy Fartsy thrown in!..keep it up!
brimble
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 12:19 p.m.
Public art is fundamentally about generating interest, discussion, beauty, and dynamic energy. 1,000 Whirlydoodles -- no, even 100 Whirlydoodles -- installed along the spans of the Stadium Bridges would provide marvelous value to a large number of passerby, both day and night. And the cost is fractional to other recent projects.... I wonder as well if Mr. Jones has plans to sell Whirlydoodles on a retail basis. Even one would make for neat garden art!
Glenn
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 3:50 p.m.
Cool thinking! Never mind the knuckle-drafters -- art is immensely valuable despite no place to figure beauty in the Bottom Line.
Unusual Suspect
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 2:52 p.m.
"even 100 Whirlydoodles -- installed along the spans of the Stadium Bridges would provide marvelous value to a large number of passerby" What possible sort of "value" would that be?
dading dont delete me bro
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 12:29 p.m.
?
Vette96drvr
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 12:18 p.m.
$88,500 for something that only has a 2 year life span? Wow! Not a very smart use of money. They do look cool though!
timjbd
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 1:35 p.m.
Kinda like a VW Phaeton?
dading dont delete me bro
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 12:17 p.m.
what an ingenious waste of money...
xmo
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 12:17 p.m.
Where else but Ann Arbor?
Elaine F. Owsley
Sat, Apr 28, 2012 : 11:15 a.m.
Got to be better than the "Public Art" they've bought so far.