Student reaction to the placement of Alice Aycock’s sculpture on the pedestrian mall in 2009 was swift. Within a few days of its placement, a Facebook group titled “The Pedestrian Mall Sculpture is Hideous” sprang up and had more than one thousand members within a week. Students called the piece an “eyesore” and “of poor artistic quality.” Jason Brown, who led the selection process, called the comments “less-than-educated passing comments” and indicated that many students enjoyed the whirlwind part of the sculpture but not the lighting.
Students complained that the sculpture’s placement impeded the flow of pedestrians and bicyclists and that it detracted from the historical plaques along the mall. The sculpture was the target of several acts of vandalism, which led to the Facilities Services Department installing a video surveillance camera in a room at nearby Melrose Hall to monitor activity related to it.