Plans for statue 'with massive erection' leave students at top UK university fuming
By Adam Cailler - The Daily Star
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A new controversial sculpture is facing an uncertain future after students claim it looks like it has a giant penis.
Created by renowned sculptor Sir Antony Gormley, the six-metre-high model, made from cantilevered steel blocks, is meant to portray a squatting human figure.
It is due to be located at Imperial College London's new Dangoor Place.
But not if students get their way – because they think that the part which is supposed to resemble the man's knees is actually a large erection, and its name is, ironically, “Alert”.
A student motion claims that the sculpture will hurt the image and reputation of the college because of its obvious interpretation as a person baring their erect penis”.
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A statement from the student union said: “While the artist’s intended form may 'evoke our community of scientific research’ the phallic interpretation does not.
“The name Alert could also be understood as referring to the statue’s phallus being erect.
“College publicity regarding the statue chose an angle that avoided making the statue appear phallic.
“This suggests that this interpretation, and backlash, was not unforeseen by some individuals within the college.”
They also claimed that the statue was “exclusionary”, because only 41.8% of full time students at the college are female (according to the 2020-2021 statistics).
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The actual moment is not available to the general public, however a research prograduate at the university told The Art Newspaper: “Despite the support within the union, and that the paper has apparently been seen by senior college staff and Gormley’s team, I doubt that it will affect the installation of ALERT.
“I think that this is not the sort of thing that the college would pull out of or listen to students about.”
The sculpture was given to the organisation by Brahmal Vasudevan, the found and chief executive of a private equity firm, and his wife Shanthi Kandiah.
An Imperial College London spokesman said: “Sir Antony Gormley is one of the world’s foremost living artists, and we are grateful to have been gifted one of his iconic sculptures."
