Transparent Horizons is a creation of welded black scrap metal placed at the end of the
courtyard at the
East Campus dormitory at
MIT. It is named Transparent Horizons because it is entirely
opaque and obscures the
horizon. The residents of
Fred the Dorm frequently try and improve it:
- The statue is buried in twelve feet of snow whenever there is enough snow on the ground.
- A student on his way to class one morning realized as he passed the statue that he had forgotten his textbook. When he came back out of the dorm five minutes later, the statue was sky blue instead of black. A group of students with fire extinguishers filled with blue paint had run outside in the meantime and tried to improve the color.
- Students on their way to lecture one day discovered the statue covered in hundreds of helium balloons, with a note attached: "We hoped that it would float away."
- For one summer, a "Transparent Horizons Appreciation Couch" lived next to the statue-- facing away from the sculpture for a proper view.