Sleepwalker media coverage vs. Harder (2014) (automated music)

Here, we spotlight key quotes and headlines prompted by Tony Matelli’s Sleepwalker exhibited at Wellesley College earlier this year. These are set to Harder by Wrangler, music-journalist Stephen Mallinder’s new band.

Bob Brown , Kim Min Su (Editor of Art Design Publicity) , Stephen Mallinder
Art Design Publicity at ADC | 15 October 2014



  • Mass. college man-in-undies sculpture causes stir
    — Associated Press, multiple placements
  • Mass. college man-in-undies sculpture causes stir
    — Associated Press, multiple placements
  • Mass. college man-in-undies sculpture causes stir
    — Associated Press, multiple placements
  • Statue of near-naked man sparks ’brief’ controversy
    — Internet Broadcasting, multiple placements
  • "Nothing says HOT art exhibit like this lifelike guy in his tighty whiteys"
    — Swellesley Report
  • Petitioning President H. Kim Bottomly and Lisa Fischman, Davis Museum Director:...
  • Move the "Sleepwalker" inside the Davis Museum...
  • Now
    — change.org petition
  • Daily talker: Should near-naked Wellesley statue be removed?
    — WBZ-TV (CBS 4), Boston
  • Sculptor: Wellesley Sleepwalk[er] should bring empathy
    — WHDH (NBC 7), Boston
  • Near nude statue of man creeping out students at Wellesley College
    — Boston.com (subsidiary of Boston Globe)
  • "This is hardly artistic... No woman should have to look at this ever..."
  • "... It makes me sick and if I went to school there I would deface the disgusting thing."
    — change.org commenter
  • Wellesley College ’sleepwalker’ becomes national sensation
    — WCVB (ABC 5), Boston
  • Reactions to "Sleepwalker" beg administrators to wake up
    — Sruthi Narayanan in The Wellesley News
  • Sleepwalking into a storm at Wellesley
    — wickedlocal.com, multiple placements
  • This sculpture is creeping out students at Wellesley College
    — Associated Press, multiple placements
  • Sleepwalker at Wellesley: Why isn’t that guy wearing any clothes?
    — wickedlocal.com, multiple placements
  • "I Find It Disturbing, but in a Good Way"
    — ABC News (US national TV)
  • What do you think of this statue?
    — CNN website
  • Why Wellesley should remove lifelike statue of a man in his underwear
    — Sarah Mahmood in Huffington Post
  • Undermining ’Underpants Man’
    — Roz Warren in Huffington Post
  • Man up, Wellesley: You’re a generation of sheltered children
    — TIME magazine
  • Statue of guy in his undies: Creepy or evoking?
    — HLN TV
  • "Hillary Clinton’s alma mater are getting the vapors over a sleepwalking man in his underwear"
    — Joe Saunders at Bizpacreview.com (conservative news)
  • All-girl campus terrorized by shambling humanoid
    — National Review
  • Art, free speech, hypocrisy, tightie-whities, and teenage tantrums
    — Forbes magazine
  • Lifelike statue of man in tighty-whitey undies gets erected at all-girls college!
    — Perezhilton.com
  • All-female college terrified by creepy underwear man statue
    — The Daily Buzz
  • Race in America: What if this statue was black?
    — Blackstonian (Boston)
  • Intolerant jerkwads at Wellesley College uncomfortable with art
    — iOwnTheWorld.com
  • Wellesley students complain that a statue of a man in his underwear is “sexual assault”
    — Slate.com
  • Freakishly realistic statue of man in underwear appears on college campus...
  • ... sparking fierce controversy
    — Bust.com, high-traffic women’s pop culture blog
  • Wellesley all girl college screams at nearly nude statue it’s a man!
    — Guardian Liberty Voice
  • "I am an art historian who works in ’controversial’ contemporary art, and I have PTSD...
  • "By far the worst article to come out on the Sleepwalker discussion....
  • ’Fear and Loathing at Wellesley’ was written by Lenore Skenazy for the Wall Street Journal.
    — Sarah Dickerson in Wellesley Underground
  • Tony Matelli defends placement of Sleepwalker statue on Wellesley campus
    — Elizabeth Lilly in Paste magazine
  • Tighty whiteys on Wellesley College campus: A most startling way to start my day
    — Bob Brown in Network World
  • Fear and loathing at Wellesley
    — Wall Street Journal
  • Statue of underdressed man terrorizes Wellesley College
    — New York magazine
  • Sculptor of spooky ‘Sleepwalker’ statue: Wellesley students don’t GET my art
    — Daily News, New York
  • Terrifying half-naked statue is causing a scene at an all-girls college
    — Rare (conservative news, political and lifestyle)
  • "Because liberal arts majors really needed another excuse to use the word ’evokes’."
    — Conor Gallagher in Nerve
  • College letting ‘Sleep Walker’ stand
    — Boston.com (subsidiary of Boston Globe)
  • "Amen, sister. Put that thing back where it came from"
    — Jenny Erikson at CafeMom.com
  • College letting ‘Sleep Walker’ stand
    — Boston.com (subsidiary of Boston Globe)
  • “None of them have any need to man up...
  • "and I hope and trust, for women’s sake..."
  • "that none of them will ever shut up.”
    — Wellesley College President H. Kim Bottomly in The Wall Street Journal
  • College letting ‘Sleep Walker’ stand
    — Boston.com (subsidiary of Boston Globe)
  • The Sleepwalker Is ’No Piss Christ’
    — WGBH (PBS 2), Boston
  • Trauma warnings move from internet to ivory tower
    — Associated Press, multiple placements
  • "some co-eds aren’t digging the new eye candy!"
    — Perez Hilton
  • College campus sleepwalker statue vandalized
    — Associated Press, multiple placements
  • College campus sleepwalker statue vandalized
    — Associated Press, multiple placements
  • "Wellesley President H. Kim Bottomly said in a statement...
  • that the acts of vandalism are ’criminal in nature and carry potentially serious consequences.’"
    — in Associated Press report, multiple placements
  • Over 5000 articles in 96+ countries report on Tony Matelli’s Sleepwalker at Wellesley College
    — Art Design Publicity
  • "No woman should have to look at this ever!"
    — change.org commenter
  • "Girls, relax."
    — Andrea Peyser in the New York Post
  • "You are acting like the Taliban..."
    — Rebecca Schoenkopf in Wonkette
  • "congratulations to the artist Tony Matelli for provoking such a big controversy!"
    — Margery Eagan on WGBH (89.7 FM), Boston
  • "It was fascinating just to watch [the media coverage] happen."
    — Tony Matelli in Sculpture magazine



Music selection: Stephen Mallinder; photo: Bob Brown; concept and text design: Kim Min Su.

Sleepwalker media coverage: The remixes

Sleepwalker research overview page: A | Sleepwalker remixes overview page: B | Sleepwalking into a North American media storm: 1 | Sleepwalker media coverage vs. Harder: 2 | Sleepwalker media coverage, lost in automated translation vs. Corruption: 3 | Sleepwalker vs. Lava Land: 4 | Sleepwalker media coverage overload vs. Theme from Wrangler: 5