"Statue of Guy in His Underwear Causes Brief Controversy at Wellesley College"

[Comrade Grumpy]

http://newsfeed.time.com/2014/02/05/very-realistic-statue-of-a-guy-in-his-underwear-causes-a-brief-controversy-at-wellesley-college/

Getting to interact with art is one of the great pleasures of being human. Right now on Wellesley College’s campus there is a very lifelike piece of art just begging for people to interact with it. It’s a statue of a pasty man, wearing only his underwear, with his arms outstretched.

The statue is called Sleepwalker and it’s part of an art exhibit at the college’s Davis Museum, the Boston Globe explains. It’s been placed in a high-traffic zone right in the center of campus.

Several students at the all-women’s college are very upset about it. A petition to ”remove the uncomfortable and potentially triggering statue put up without student consent” has earned more than 340 signatures. The petition explains:

"This highly lifelike sculpture has, within just a few hours of its outdoor installation, become a source of apprehension, fear, and triggering thoughts regarding sexual assault for many members of our campus community. While it may appear humorous, or thought-provoking to some, it has already become a source of undue stress for many Wellesley College students, the majority of whom live, study, and work in this space."

Davis Museum director Lisa Fischman explained on the college’s website that the statue was meant to “inspire narrative,” by encouraging people to interact with it and provoking dialogue. And indeed, while some members of the community were outraged, others seemed to appreciate the unexpected public installation.

“I find it disturbing, but in a good way,” English professor Sarah Wall-Randell told the Boston Globe. “I think it’s meant to be off-putting – it’s a schlumpy guy in underpants in an all-women environment.”

Read more: Statue of Guy in Underwear at Wellesley College Is Very Life-Like | TIME.com http://newsfeed.time.com/2014/02/05/very-realistic-statue-of-a-guy-in-his-underwear-causes-a-brief-controversy-at-wellesley-college/#ixzz2sZ1KH0co

[Comrade Grumpy]

1. Oh. "Brief" controversy. Now I get it.

[HockeyMom]

2. It looks so REAL

that has to be a major part of all the controversy

[Hekate]

4. He's knee deep in snow, and looks vulnerable/injured/ill. It's disturbing all right.

Good grief. Not what I want to see on my way to classes.

[SMC22307]

13. As a woman, I don't feel threatened.

I want to throw a blanket over him and get him someplace warm. I find some of the students' reactions peculiar.

[Hekate]

19. You and me both. Good grief. As an art project, I find its public placement sophomoric. nt

[snooper2]

3. He froze standing up :P

I think he is saying, "Brains!"

[Jesus Malverde]

33. That's me every time I take ambien ....

See so many funny scenario's people could play with this character, some art is begging for interaction.

Weird ass creation...

[MADem]

102. Sleepwalking! The installation is aptly named, then... nt

[lumberjack_jeff]

5. In rainy Olympia, some genius put statues of children playing... between traffic lanes.

Once you know that it's not really a kid and she's not really running/flying her kite across the street in front of you, it's okay.

[opiate69]

60. Heh.. Yeah, those still get me once in a while when I go to the farmers market...

[marions ghost]

111. that's really dumb

---

[Comrade Grumpy]

6. I'm surprised this sunk so far so fast, but what do I know?

[Jesus Malverde]

8. Needed more pictures...snooper delivered!...nt

[Nye Bevan]

11. Perhaps the feminists are deciding what the correct reaction is?

If it is determined to be an outrage perpetuated by the patriarchy I will expect a lot more interest.

[NutmegYankee]

20. I find it oddly amusing that the reverse situation wouldn't be an issue

If a half naked woman statue was placed by the road, I highly doubt a single college age male would complain.

[JI7]

48. depends on what the statue would look like and do sexual assaults by females against males

happen the same amount of time as males against females ?

[lumberjack_jeff]

85. Not me. I'd feel victimized, traumatized and triggered.

fer serious.

I think there may be other problems with a hyperrealistic underwear-clad sleepwalker statue affixed to the sidewalk adjacent to the roadway though; e.g. "Holy shit! That guy's gonna get hypothermia! Call 911!"

[Sissyk]

97. He's in search of bigfoot!

I looks like what it is, doesn't it? A underwear clad, briefs at that, sleepwalker out in below freezing weather. Below freezing. Shrinkage.

[hfojvt]

105. but triggering was one problem

that was specifically mentioned

"become a source of apprehension, fear, and triggering thoughts regarding sexual assault for many members of our campus community."

[SMC22307]

12. There was a thread on this yesterday or the day before.

Maybe two.

Wonder if there might be more interest if the guy weren't so "schlumpy."

[Jesus Malverde]

95. Welcome to DU!

[SMC22307]

115. Thank you, JM.

I've been here since early 2013--not exactly the most prolific of posters, eh?

[1000words]

7. Art solicits response

All kinds. Some are pleasant, some not. I think it's weird, but hardly merits removal.

[Xyzse]

9. Can they put temporary make up on it now and then for Holloween?

Either way, the art work was not placed in there with consent of the student body.

It is their school, they pay in to it, they are free to complain.

Now I don't really care if they take it out or not, as I am ambivalent about it. I tend to think that art should be protected and they are welcome to install it wherever they want in their property. However, as a matter of taste, that is dependent on the ones looking at it, they too are welcome to complain.

[MADem]

103. Well, exams are held without the consent of many in the student body.

The student body isn't consulted on every activity that happens at most schools.

They are, as you point out, free to complain, and they're also free to disenroll and matriculate somewhere else. I kinda think they'd want to stay put, though--that school has a great rep, and a degree from there has no small amount of cachet.

I think the statue is very well done--it's hyper-realistic, complex, can fool the eye, and kickstart discussion. Beats the hell out of some halfassed ball on a triangle or some other simplistic installation.

[Xyzse]

109. True...

I'd definitely place zombie make up on that thing now and then.

[Nye Bevan]

10. "Apprehension"? That thing makes people afraid?

My only reaction is that it makes me feel cold, seeing that dude in his underwear in the snow.

[sendero]

14. I saw a video of this..

.. and yes I can see how it could upset someone. It belongs in a museum or somewhere that folks are expecting to be challenged, not in the middle of a campus.

[1000words]

15. Remove all public art displays on campus, then

[sendero]

16. All..

... that look like a semi-naked stalker, yes.

[1000words]

17. That's your response to it

Others don't interpret it that way. Hell, the name "Sleepwalker" opens up a myriad of interpretations alone.

[Nye Bevan]

18. Yes. All semi-nude and nude statues should be removed from public view.

This one is even more disgusting:



At the very least someone should put some boxer-briefs on him.

[Aerows]

23. So you are claiming that

a pasty, middle-aged man sleep walking in his underwear on the campus of an all-women's college that has seen many sexual assaults is the equivalent of a piece by Michelangelo?

Oh, if only I could justify things as well as you can. I could take food out of the mouths of starving children and explain how it motivates them to become more successful.

[Nye Bevan]

29. I guess you're right. This so-called "modern art" isn't really "art" at all, is it?

It's just so totally weird. How do people come up with this stuff? Give me some nice old-fashioned oil paintings and normal statues any day.

[Aerows]

36. As I said

thinking with their fiduciary brains, and not with the ones capable of higher intellect. Research the story and get back to me.

[NutmegYankee]

25. Who can forget the Ashcroft days and his covering up of the "Spirit of Justice"?

He couldn't deal with the exposed breast.

[SMC22307]

28. He doesn't look like a stalker, he looks like someone Ambien-walking...

who needs help. At least according to this woman.

Wonder what the intent of this piece really is. "Exposure"? "Empathy"? "Down with Big Pharma"?

[JI7]

37. what does a stalker look like ?

[SMC22307]

46. Perhap he is a stalker, with unconscious impulses taking over during his sleep.

Or maybe he suffers from a psychological disorder, or migraines, or drug use, and is prone to sleepwalking.

I still see a man who needs to be covered with a warm blanket or coat and gently guided back to bed.

[Warren DeMontague]

74. ***

[SMC22307]

77. That triggered my response for a wedge of Laughing Cow. (n/t)

[Aerows]

80. OMG, you love that cheese, too?

I need some now!

[SMC22307]

82. LOL And only 35 calories!

Of course, I have the cheese, but no celery. Isn't that *always* the way?

[Aerows]

84. It is!

I have the celery and no cheese . I LOVE it.

[Aerows]

39. Answer: Big donation

to allow it to be shown.

[SMC22307]

59. Good point. (n/t)

[MADem]

113. He looks like MOLESLEY, from Downton Abbey, minus his (down a peg) footman's livery!

Don't forget the gloves, now, Molesley.....

People who watch that show will get what I'm saying...

Perhaps the intent of the piece is that even Molesley can be taken down a further peg (and who would think that were possible?) when reduced to his Hanes, and nothing more!

[SMC22307]

116. Ha, he does a bit.

And Mr. Carson can sure as hell deliver a line!

[MADem]

117. I have to say, I love Carson's MOLLLLLLES-ley!

I had teachers as a kid who had the very same no-nonsense manner!

[MADem]

104. That's what stalkers look like? Who knew? nt

[MicaelS]

22. Maybe that is the point.

To see people's reaction, or in this case to see women's reaction to a man in his underwear in a public setting, not some "safe" place women are "expecting to be challenged."

[Aerows]

27. Reaction: Not good

Upsetting, and unsettling. Especially where there have been a lot of sexual assaults. But hey, any excuse to have a middle aged man in his underwear in front of women, because that is extremely sexy and exposes them to the good things they have in store for them in life!

[Aerows]

21. This was cataclysmically stupid to put on an all-women's campus

where several women have been stalked a raped. You have to wonder, at times, if the university is thinking with their academic brains or their fiduciary ones. My money goes with the latter, no pun intended.

[1000words]

24. Go to any town in the U.S.

Last edited Thu Feb 6, 2014, 09:09 PM - Edit history (1)

... and you will likely find a statue honoring Vietnam veterans. Now, I'm sure there are many vets suffering from PTSD who don't appreciate it the way most do.

[JI7]

30. are there statues of enemy soldiers who attacked them that look realistic and like they are going

to attack them ?

[Nye Bevan]

44. Right. Because the white Hanes guy looks *exactly* like he's about to rape someone (nt)

[JI7]

45. what does a guy who is about to rape supposed to look like ?

[Nye Bevan]

57. Like a sleepwalking middle-aged dude standing in his underwear in the snow,

judging by many of the posts here.

[CTyankee]

78. Or maybe like a sleepy eyed Woody Allen standing in his underwear...hmm...

[Aerows]

32. I know that most young women

can't wait to see a middle aged man in his underwear. How could they not?

[1000words]

40. Laughing and mocking is a valid response, as well.

Did you conduct a poll?

[SMC22307]

53. But would be the statue be acceptable if it weren't someone so "schlumpy"?

Last edited Thu Feb 6, 2014, 07:58 PM - Edit history (1)

That's how one English professor referred to our pasty friend.

Edit: Schlumpy, not schlubby!

[JI7]

54. no, and this one wouldn't be an issue either if it didn't look real

and was more like a stone statue.

[Nye Bevan]

58. But some of those "stone statues" have actual penises.

Granted, they are usually fairly small, but still.

[JI7]

61. so you finally realize it's not about seeing the penis

or anything like that.

it's about a realistic looking person in an environment that is out of place for the way it's dressed.

[Warren DeMontague]

71. The other guy was goliath

Know what I'm sayin'?

[SMC22307]

66. So the issue is that it's lifelike...

not so much that it's an underwear-clad man sleepwalking across campus?

I'm not trying to argue with you, just trying to understand different perspectives.

[JI7]

67. yes , put it in a museum or some art dept

[SMC22307]

91. He'd lose the vulnerability if in a museum or art department.

That is, if you see him as vulnerable.

Would he even be seen as creepy in either of those settings?

[Aerows]

56. Would the statue be acceptable

if the vanity that accompanied it didn't come with a huge donation?

[SMC22307]

76. How are you defining "vanity"? (n/t)

[Aerows]

81. If you don't define vanity as sinking a huge chunk of money into a statue

that is not well-received, uh, okay. Glamor-shots weren't about vanity, either.

Now pass me the Laughing Cow wedges! They are delicious. (Something we both agree upon!)

[SMC22307]

87. "Vanity" as in being worthless or futile?

Well, it has elicited responses, many responses. And it's being discussed in Time, the Boston Globe, CBS, USA Today, so is it really futile? I am finding this interesting now -- the "he's creepy" versus the "he's vulnerable" camps. And it's been well received by some, not others.

Glamor shots? Now *those* were just dopey.

Happy to share!

[Aerows]

88. Dammit

Now I'm craving Laughing Cow.

Excuse the drool.

[SMC22307]

90. I just made a boring grilled cheese.

Could have made a real dinner if I weren't sitting on my ass discussing an underwear statue while watching Big Bang Theory. Oh, well. At least I was productive at work!

[Aerows]

92. LMAO!

Enjoy the grilled cheese, you lucky person, you!

[SMC22307]

93. :-) Thanks!

[CTyankee]

79. I know that pic just THRILLED me!

ACK!

[MicaelS]

35. The guy looks like he is seriously ill.

If some women react badly to a nearly naked, seriously ill looking man, in the middle of winter weather, I'd say those women are the ones that have the problem. God forbid it was a real man, with a real illness on that campus, in that environment. He would probably be dead, very quickly.

[JI7]

38. there have been rapists who look "seriously ill"

[Comrade Grumpy]

47. Are you saying that any guy in his underwear looks like a rapist?

[JI7]

49. no, i'm saying seeing a guy like this in such an environment could scare some

it might be different if it was a hot day at the beach or something where one knows why a guy might be dressed that way.

[Comrade Grumpy]

96. I'd say that's provocative art.

If someone gets scared looking at it, perhaps it will cause that person to reflect on why he or she is having that reaction.

[gollygee]

50. Honestly, this is what it looks like to me too

I find it creepy in a "almost dead guy walking around like a zombie" way. If I saw it and didn't know it was a statue, I'd call 911 for an ambulance and check to see how he was.

[Nye Bevan]

42. Absolutely. A great many campus rapists are balding middle-aged men in white Hanes underwear,

whose modus operandi is to run through the campus in the snow naked except for their briefs.

This statue is horrifyingly evocative of the typical campus rapist.

[JI7]

26. many women have been sexually assaulted, threatened etc

this thread reads like many wingnuts who are always attacking colleges with mostly liberal women.

there are many fucked up perverts. and it's stupid to compare the one that looks real to one that everyone knows is a statue.

[Vashta Nerada]

31. It's a freaking statue.

[JI7]

34. it looks real, i don't like realistic looking rodents, lizards etc

[Jesus Malverde]

41. We're lucky it's not in clown make-up

[SMC22307]

89. Shudder... clowns. (n/t)

[Dr. Strange]

75. DON'T BLINK!

And stay out of the shadows.

That's from a TV show, in case you're wondering.

[Vashta Nerada]

86. I'd be more afraid of the statue if it looked like this:

[bobclark86]

43. It's art...

They need to go hang out in the art department more... if he had a gun and a boner, I'd still say keep it. Just like art students who paint pictures of vaginas with their own menstrual blood.

BTW, how many rapes are there on an all-girl campus? I thought the point of an all-girl school was NOT having penises around...

[gollygee]

51. If nobody likes it

they are not obligated to keep it.

[1000words]

68. Wellesley has an enrollment of 2,400 students

350 signed a petition to have it removed

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

100. And the other 2050 are taking "selfies" with it

The upset would probably be equally as traumatized seeing a FedEx delivery man.

[MADem]

106. Those pictures are hilarious...oh, to be a college kid !!

I'll bet they're having a blast!

Now, if the statue looked like THIS, I could understand a bit of trauma:



...but that poor statue fellow, he just looks dazed and confused...and sound asleep!

[Nye Bevan]

108. They look terrified and intimidated.

The "selfies" are their attempt to desl with the fear and revulsion.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

114. I would love to hear the Eumenides interpretation of this picture specifically

[bobclark86]

70. It's art...

Apparently somebody likes it, otherwise it wouldn't be there...

[Jesus Malverde]

52. If I could suggest a collaboration with an artist who knits...nt

[cliffordu]

55. WTF is NYC_SKP doing at Wellesley???

[Jesus Malverde]

63. ..

[In_The_Wind]

65. I could call him and ask?

Where is his tan?

[Warren DeMontague]

69. That's where I've seen that dude before!

Seriously, though, man... If you're over 25, for the love of all that is holy... Wear boxers.

[NYC_SKP]

94. I keep a little studio there. Most don't know about it.

But those who do know hold me in high, or sometimes low, and hairy, esteem.

It's really not unusual for institutions of higher edumacation.

[adirondacker]

62. At least they didn't dress him in a banana hammock.

[Warren DeMontague]

72. The original model did not test well with focus groups

[Sissyk]

98. Eeeeek!

You need a warning on that pic.

[Throd]

64. I like it. They can put it in my yard when they're dome with it.

[Warren DeMontague]

73. $600,000 and it can be yours

"Starving artists", my ass!

[The Straight Story]

83. If they really wanted to scare people have the statue holding open a door

with a gun sculpted to his side and have him smoking as he sits atop a pitbull that is breast feeding her pups. All standing on a mound of olive garden wrappers and boxes of corn flakes. Throw in a religious symbol around his neck and people would run screaming.

[uncle ray]

99. the way the guy is dressed, he is clearly asking for it.

[MADem]

101. The English professor nailed it....it’s a schlumpy guy in underpants....

They showed him on the news the other day...he looked rather helpless and pathetic with the snow flying!

:large

[MadrasT]

107. I don't understand the upset.

That person does not look threatening to me. He looks like he needs help. I want to give him a blanket and a warm place to lie down. And a cup a coffee.

[HappyMe]

110. Yeah, I agree.

Get him inside where it's warm and give him some nice hot soup.

[marions ghost]

112. Consider that:

#1 --It's art. It is NOT real. Duh but Important Point. NOT real.

#2 --It is meant to provoke discussion. Check.

#3 --It is not offensive except that it brings up disturbing fears in some--fears which are normal but usually suppressed. Others have no fear but feel a twinge of "poor thing." It's that crossover between Person and Thing that is so interesting. And many go sleepwalking through life, unable to see.

#4 --There are so many ugly and distasteful things in all our fields of view every time we leave our doors or go out on the internets. But we have no control over them. We have to cope.

#5 --It's temporary.

-----------

These young women who have a problem with this need to get exposed to art more often. I don't say that someone who has had a bad experience with men should LIKE this. Nobody has to like it. But they should be mature enough to deal with it's existence in the small space of the body in which all of us find ourselves as humans.

--------------
Personally I think it's brilliant. But I'm biased towards Art.



And (more importantly) Ambiguity.

for the sleeping man