Sculpture sparks controversy at Imperial College London.
Sir Anthony Gormley created a work called "Alert" using steel blocks. The piece was intended to represent a human crouching pose, but the students think it looks like the equivalent of an "erect penis" instead.
Art will be installed in the campus square this year,Gormley issued a statement posted on the school's website.
"By transforming anatomy into architectural structure, I want to re-evaluate the relationship between the body and space. This sculpture squats on its hips, looking out at the world around it, while balancing on the ball of the foot." 's posture is alive, agile and awake," he wrote.
The student council was less than impressed, andissued its own statement obtained by The Guardian. They worried that the sculpture would ruin the school's reputation.
The phallic interpretation of scientific research is not. The name Alert can also be understood as indicating that the statue's phallus is upright,' they wrote. I was more upset that it was displayed in such a public place.
This is his second time Gormley's work has caused controversy,his work has been compared to sex toys, andit has been removed in March 2021 .
Another concern of his is that "alerts" are "ruled out" by showing males instead of females.
They claimed that when the artwork was first shown, the school used a different angle to hide what appeared to be a "phallus".
