LONDON. A large contemporary sculpture with a phallic shape is at the center of a protest by the students of Imperial College London who fear damage to image and an offense to female colleagues. This was reported by the British press in the wake of a motion presented by the union of students of the prestigious scientific college who regret not having been consulted before its installation on Dangoor Plaza and ask for it to be removed from campus.
The controversial 6-meter-tall sculpture, made by Antony Gormley, is a human figure with bent legs, but many of the students instead see a 3-meter male sex. In addition, they criticize the name of the work, entitled Alert, a term that – they emphasized – “can also be understood as a reference to the organ of the statue in erection”. A stance that may appear unexpectedly conservative, all the more so since it was formulated by young students.
Photo: Imperial College Union
According to them, “in principle there is nothing wrong with phallic representation in art, but a phallic interpretation of the work makes it inappropriate to be exposed to the general public.” In its motion, the students’ union highlights the risk that because of this ambiguous and sexually explicit sculpture, female students may decide not to enroll in Imperial College.
In the 2020-2021 academic year, only 41.8% of full-time students were female. Net of the controversy, a spokesman for Imperial College told al Guardian that «the scholastic institution is grateful to Anthony Gromley, one of the greatest artists alive, for having given us one of his emblematic sculptures». The work was offered by a former Imperial College student, but his generous gesture has so far not been welcomed.