Goldie 1971

Goldie is a sculpture by Joe McCreary on exhibit in Woods Quad at the University of Alabama in 2009. The 2-ton figurative sculpture resembles a robot or mechanical man lying on its side as if sleeping or deactivated. According to the artist it represents the state of the American iron industry, and specifically Sloss Furnaces, which is now a museum filled with decommissioned machinery. The figure helps fill the role of the dismissed human workers, signs of which are harder to find at the museum.

McCreary, education coordinator for Sloss Metal Arts, created Goldie from parts he cast at the furnaces. The name was inspired by the signature of a Sloss worker made near a repair in the No. 1 furnace in 1971.

References

• LeComte, Richard (June 22, 2009) "Woods Quad Robot Sculpture Draws Attention, Provokes Thought". Dialog faculty staff newsletter. University of Alabama