In the USA, a billionaire has placed two statues of the Transformers in front of his townhouse. Since January 2021, Optimus Prime and Bumblebee have been guarding the house of Dr. Newton Howard. The neighbors do not find this funny at all, but the billionaire threatens to go to court if he is denied permission to display the statues.
What kind of statues are these? The statues are metal replicas of Optimus Prime and Bumblebee. They weigh 1,814 kilograms. The statues were made from recycled motorcycle and car parts by an unknown artist.
The two Transformers were installed in January 2021, replacing two plant boxes that used to be there. There are other robot statues in the house.
Who does such a thing? Dr. Newton Howard is a professor of neurosurgery at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. He researches remedies for Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s among other things and has earned billions of US dollars through patents and investments.
Billionaire says: He is a man of transformation, his home a place of transformation
Why is he doing this? Howard says his work with artificial intelligence and prosthetic technology inspired him to place the two Transformers in front of his house. He is a man of transformation. The statues say: Transform yourself, your environment, the community.
In an interview, he explained:
They represent the coalition of humans and machines working together in harmony, but as different entities. We create robotic and prosthetic arms and all these things to compensate for harm. That doesn’t make us robots.
So in short: He does it because he can.
Neighbors are up in arms – Say the statues attract the wrong crowd
What is the problem? Some neighbors do not appreciate that giant representatives of pop culture are visible in their upscale neighborhood of Washington. The houses here are each worth several million US dollars. They apparently find the statues tacky. They believe they mar the neighborhood and drive property values down. They consider it an ego trip for Howard to place the statues on the sidewalk, which belongs to the whole community.
Moreover, people regularly gather in front of the robots to photograph them, for instance for selfies on Instagram.
A spokesperson for a neighborhood group says:
We have motorcycle gangs showing up and blocking the street to take photos. We have tourist buses. Pick your poison, we have it all. We can’t walk on our sidewalks. People yell and spit at us if we don’t stop when they want to take a selfie. “Disturbing” is still a nice word for what we’ve been enduring here for 27 months.
Is there anyone who likes the statues? Yes, indeed. The university students apparently like Bumblebee and Optimus Prime. A spokesperson for the committee says one must admit that not all neighbors find the statues so disturbing.
All university students living across the street consider the Transformers to be “of public importance”.
Statues are modern art, allowed to stay – Now it goes to court
What is the status? Howard says the statues are now being accepted by more and more people, and he is working to place 16 more Transformers sculptures in the city.
He apparently managed in 2022 with the help of a consulting firm. The consultants argued that the statues are modern art symbolizing the concept of “transformation”.
The neighborhood board had allowed the statues on the condition that the billionaire renew his permit every 6 months.
Recently, in April 2023, the board did not grant the permit. Howard then announced that he would go to court. He didn’t even know that a vote had taken place. The statues are part of his right to free speech. Moreover, they help the environment as they are made from recycling materials.
Who likes the Transformers:
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