After years of sniping and planning meetings, a sculpture honoring Alan Turing was finally unveiled at Cambridge’s Kings College in England, where he studied math, the foundation of his illustrious career.
Turing, a gay man, is widely considered the father of computer science and artificial intelligence. He is most famous for his work on breaking the German Enigma codes during World War II.
Despite his essential work, he was punished by the British government for his sexuality and was chemically castrated after being convicted in 1952 of “gross indecency” with another man.
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Turing died by suicide in 1954. He was 41.
Queen Elizabeth II officially pardoned Turing under the Royal Prerogative of Mercy in 2013. The Historic England Planning Commission, however, was less forgiving when it came to permission to build the sculpture in Cambridge.
“We consider that it would harm the particular character, created by the interplay of buildings and landscape, which makes the college so remarkable a place,” they wrote in a letter to the Cambridge City Council.
The large sculpture is a heavy series of blocks meant to portray a man’s figure. It is made of steel and copper so that it will oxidize into a deep red color over the years. The center of balance for the behemoth is hard to decipher.
Sir Antony Gormley, the designer, joked that he had worried the sculpture “wasn’t controversial enough” during the unveiling ceremony and pointedly disputed the commission’s handwringing.
“I’m amazed by the way the sculpture speaks to the buildings and the buildings to the sculpture,” he said. “They’ve immediately entered a kind of dialogue.”
“I have to say it took a long time to get here. It was 2015 when the journey started, and the planning permission was perhaps the biggest hurdle, though everyone agrees it looks like the sculpture has always been here.”
King’s College Provost Gillian Tett noted Turing’s importance and contributions to the modern world during her speech at the ceremony.
“We’re here to celebrate Alan Turing and this fantastic sculpture by Antony Gormley,” she said. “I was at Davos last week and every single session included a discussion about AI.”