"Inappropriate and potentially traumatizing!" That's what some students say about the mostly-naked sleepwalking man statue parked outside Wellesley College’s art museum. The piece has garnered a fair share of controversy, and has kicked off a litany of student selfies psoing with the sleeping beauty—some creepier than others.
The other high-profile and controversial male statue this year is, of course, Pride and Prejudice’s Mr. Darcy, who resides literally in the Serpentine Lake in London. Is there a trend afoot? Are we to see a slew of more mannequin-like male art?
Let’s do a quick compare and contrast of the two specimens. Both are clad in their skivvies: Sleepwalker in nothing but his tighty whities, Darcy in a drenched riding shirt. Both are vulnerable, contending with the elements outdoors. Both appear to have zero body hair. But Sleepwalker is your kind of out-of-shape, average American male, and his body is merely life-size. Sex-symbol Mr. Darcy is not only fit and muscular, but gargantuan (reflecting his virility?). Poor Sleepwalker, the competition’s stiff (no pun intended). But hey, maybe Sleepwalker has a great personality.
(Image: commons.wikimedia.org)
