Sculptor Mark Chatterley created Blue Human Condition to remind the citizens of Adrian, Michigan, that people must rely on each other to live full and happy lives, but some residents of the small town think that the interlocking blue figures depict group sex. Now, based on protests of the so-called “Orgy Statue,” the piece has been relocated to a less prominent location, reports the Huffington Post.
Despite the lack of any genitalia on the genderless figures, the work has been widely interpreted in a sexual manner. Originally located outside of the city chambers building, the statue was temporarily shrouded in a blue tarp before being moved to a nearby park.
Not all of Adrian’s citizens have responded negatively to the piece. As reported by Adrian Today, a local family that appreciates the public artwork created its own reenactment of the sculpture in order to demonstrate that it ought not be viewed as containing sexual connotations.
While city officials have voiced their continued support for Blue Human Condition, which was selected as a public artwork through the Adrian Art Discovery program, they believe that moving the statue should be an effective compromise, placating those who felt uncomfortable with the statue.
Ashley Cavazos-Franck and her family recreate Mark Chatterley’s Blue Human Condition so as to show that the work, which has been sparked protests in Adrian, Michigan, is not necessarily sexual in nature. Photo: via Adrian Today.
Rick Strawcutter, the pastor of Adrian’s the Church on Bent Oak, has strong views on the matter. In a YouTube video, he links the “abomination” of a sculpture to a newly passed local law that guarantees equal rights to LGBT individuals, describing both the legislation and the artwork as signs that Adrian is slowly transforming into the biblical city of Sodom.
The description for the video addresses liberals who might oppose efforts to remove the statue, saying “to those who accuse conservative critics of being closed-minded, Pastor cautions them not to be so open-minded their brains fall out.”