Page 11 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - April 2024
P. 11
Silicon Valley’s Flying Saucer Man 11
The Forgotten Legend of accustomed to a steadyish stream of finishings. He also wrote books on
wealthy collectors fell on hard times. blacksmithing and toolmaking and shared
Silicon Valley’s Flying Things got bad enough that Larry his talents firsthand with youngsters
Saucer Man Fischer, the owner of a sculpture willing to camp on the property. He
foundry, decided to auction off pieces taught them to make their own tools,
he’d held on to for years to help make sculpt, and embrace his minimalist,
Alexander Weygers, a
ends meet. Ahead of the auction, he recycling-centric philosophy. And
Renaissance man in the mold of invited Hunter to come see if there was amazingly, Weygers was a world-class
the tech industry’s stated ideal, anything he liked. He guided his friend engineer who in the late 1920s designed a
inspired an art dealer to become through the gritty warehouse toward a flying saucer, a machine he called the
an acolyte. collection of bronze sculptures he Discopter.
thought might be of particular interest.
by Ashlee Vance Fischer had known Weygers well before
He chose well. The first sculpture Hunter the forgotten Renaissance man died in
saw, Up With Life, was a foot tall and 1989, and his stories kept Hunter
An idyllic ease permeates California’s depicted an adult’s face morphing mesmerized for hours. “I was hooked,”
Carmel Valley. Wealthy people have vertically into a hand cradling an infant. said Hunter, who’d long pursued the art
built ranch-style houses into the Fischer explained that the sculpture, dealer’s dream of turning an obscure
mountains, giving them views of the made by an unknown artist named talent with a compelling background into
Pacific on one side and pine and cypress Alexander Weygers after World War II, a major figure among collectors. He’d
forests on the other. It’s neither too hot represented humanity rising up to find buy up as much of Weygers’s work as
nor too cold, and the fresh ocean air hope in the darkest of times. Its beauty possible, he decided, then bring the great
makes you feel calm inside. These overwhelmed Hunter, leaving him giddy man’s legacy to the world—and make a
conditions, which give big ideas room to and a little dazed. “I freaking started fortune.
grow, have attracted artists to the area, as crying,” he later said. As he surveyed the
well as retirees who want to meditate on room and saw one magnificent work Over the next decade, however, Hunter’s
the good life. But every now and then, after another, Hunter knew he had to relationship with Weygers became far
the gentle rhythm of this place gets have them. “I bought the whole more complex than he could have
disturbed. Someone’s perfectly collection of 30 Weygers statues.” imagined standing in that warehouse. As
manicured existence goes in a turbulent, he spent countless hours researching the
unexpected direction. The sculptures came with an incredible man, he began to see him as a symbol of
story. Weygers spent close to half a a purer time in Silicon Valley. Weygers
For some people, it’s a real estate shock. century as the valley’s hidden da Vinci, invented things because something inside
For others, it’s an earthquake or—God crafting his home over the years from him demanded it. The artist-engineer ran
knows—a wildfire. For Randy Hunter, a reclaimed wood and junkyard scrap from fame and riches, focusing instead
local art dealer, that moment arrived in metal, using tools he made on the on hard work and ingenuity.
2008. The financial crisis had come to premises. In separate workshops he
paradise. Artists and galleries produced sculptures, highly stylized (Continued on Page 12)
photos, wood carvings, and home
