London, Imperial College students outraged by Gormley's work: it has an erect phallus

Singular protest by a group of students atImperial College London over a sculpture by the great British artist Antony Gormley (London, 1950), winner of the Praemium Imperiale in 2013, the Turner Prize in 1994, and a past presence at the Venice Biennale, Documenta and other major international events. The six-meter-high sculpture, Alert, is composed of weathered steel blocks and is imagined in the form of a crouching man (as the artist called it: a man who “balances on his forefeet by bending his thighs”): the bent leg with the prominent knee, a protrusion from the body about three meters long, has been interpreted as an erect phallus, however, and this reading has agitated Imperial College Union students, who have launched a motion to ask that the statue not be installed.

In the college’s intentions, Alert is to be placed in the new Dangoor Plaza, an outdoor area redeveloped through a donation from the Dangoor family (hence the name), which is part of the South Kensington Campus. Specifically, Dangoor Plaza is a large plaza surrounding Queen’s Lawn and Queen’s Tower: in Imperial College’s intentions, it should “create a welcoming quadrangle that will enhance Queen’s Lawn, providing an inviting and comfortable green space to allow both spontaneous and planned activity for staff and students, year-round.”

Alert, donated by former student Brahmal Vasudevan and his wife Shanthi Kandiah, will be a “focal point” of Dangoor Plaza, the College explains, “The sculpture will occupy a central location on Imperial College Road, attracting visitors and providing an intriguing point of interest for the College’s enhanced public spaces around Dangoor Plaza.” The donor said he shares “the College’s vision for a vibrant public space, and I am proud to bring this iconic world-class artwork by Antony Gormley to the heart of campus. The inspiration came from my idea to make a collaboration between Antony, one of England’s leading artists, with this great British university.” The installation is planned as early as this summer.

The students, complaining that they were not consulted, write in their motion that Alert “is interpreted by many as phallic,” and in this respect “the sculpture draws attention to the phallus,” the name Alert “could also refer to the statue’s erect phallus,” and that while there is “nothing wrong with the phallic imagery of art,” the concern lies in the fact that “a penis might be considered inappropriate for a large public display, especially given the size of the statue.” The phallic interpretation is also described as “more obvious” than the one presented by the artist: the problem, according to the students, lies in the fact that “some might view the male form of the phallic interpretation as exclusionary,” but also in the possibility that Alert might “damage the image and reputation of the college.” It is also challenged that in the presentation, Imperial College offered frontal views of the work, according to students with the intent to conceal its phallic nature. Finally, since the work is intended to rise as a symbol of the scientific community, representing the latter with a phallus would not be inclusive. The student union therefore concludes by calling for the “cancellation of plans for the statue.”

The College did not comment on the students’ motion: meanwhile, access to the text of the motion on the website has been restricted, so at the moment it is not possible to read it directly on the website, but a copy is stored in theInternet Archive Wayback Machine. In spite of the students’ upsets that advanced the text, it seems at the moment that the installation of the work will proceed smoothly.

London, Imperial College students outraged by Gormley's work: it has an erect phallus

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