Our opinion: Like it or not, new sculpture on Green out of place

A photo of Joel Pearlman's "Big Diamond" before being installed on the Coral Gables campus. MIAMI.EDU
A photo of Joel Pearlman's "Big Diamond" before being installed on the Coral Gables campus. MIAMI.EDU
A photo of Joel Pearlman's "Big Diamond" before being installed on the Coral Gables campus. MIAMI.EDU

It’s hard not to sound cliché when trying to make a point like this, but why fix something if it ain’t broke? Well in this case, why add a rusty hunk of metal when the grass is already beautiful?

If you haven’t already noticed, someone decided to place a large rust-colored geometric metal sculpture smack-dab in the middle of the University Green.

University President Donna E. Shalala has commented in the past that we have the nicest grass of any college campus, because everyone is afraid to disturb it. That trend was finally changing. From bikini-clad studiers to ultimate frisbee champions-in-waiting, the Green has become a popular place to be. Why disrupt that positive momentum? And yes, we know recycling is good and all, but to pick something directly from the recycling plant is going a little overboard.

All kidding aside, we try to act as the eyes for our community. We certainly have no place judging the artistic quality of something like this, but it is hard to ignore this out-of-place work. When we think of our campus and city, we don’t think of an industrial aesthetic.

We just have one question: Why? The similar looking sculpture near the Ashe building makes much more sense because it takes up an unusable piece of grass and fits well in its space. Although this one is similarly sized, it’s obstructive and too attention-grabbing. It’s just sitting there with no context. Debate the value or don’t, but it just doesn’t fit on our campus.

We reported before the break on the idea of a “Comm’U’nity Garden” being created on the Green. We think it’s a fantastic idea. And if the university’s manpower and resources can be used on the current sculpture, it can certainly be used on that.