A student artist at the University of Utah had installed a “cry closet” in the college library and people on twitter are feeling a little weird about it.
Nemo Miller is the artist behind the project, a student at the University of Utah College of Fine Arts, and he described it as ‘a safe space for stressed out students otherwise known as ‘The Cry Closet.”
‘This space is meant to provide a place for students studying for finals to take a short 10-minute break,’ reads the display’s description.
Miller’s art project has five rules students need to follow:
-Knock before you enter
-Only one person in the closet at a time
-Limit your time in the closet to no more than 10 minutes
-Turn the lights and timer off before you leave
-Use #cryclosetuofu if posting on social media
so my school installed a cry closet in the library LMFAOOOOOOOOO what is higher education pic.twitter.com/6rGcJv9qjr
— jackie (@internetJacks) April 24, 2018
The ‘cry closet’ is completely blacked out inside and it contains a small collection of stuffed animals for students to cuddle.
People were wondering if this is for real? Of course it is folks, in this time of safe spaces and microaggressions, Miller’s project gatheres a lot of attention on social media.
Here are some of the tweets posted about the project:
This is why ISIS is winning. https://t.co/wmRi8aSYAI
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) April 25, 2018
This is beyond pathetic, first we tried to have Swoop be our mascot now this. Way to prepare students for the real world. Wonder how many prospective employers have cry closets?
— Lankyone (@dexdawg) April 24, 2018
And while everyone were freaking out over the installation, the University of Utah pointed out that Miller’s display was an attempt at humor — not a legitimate “safe space” for anxious students to use:
Point taken, @dexdawg. We will cease and desist all attempts at humor across campus.
— University of Utah (@UUtah) April 24, 2018
😂 Hopefully you won't be needing this, but if so, it's at @MarriottLibrary 😂#CryIfUWantTo #GoodLuckWithFinals! https://t.co/w3Il9Vj8vU
— University of Utah (@UUtah) April 24, 2018
‘Well it wasn’t JUST humor. It is an art installation that is meant to provoke feeling, thought and conversation, which the artist has apparently achieved. And, it made us LOL, which can sometimes be the best stress relief during finals.’ wrote the University of Utah on Twitter.
Jackie Larsen, the student who originally posted Miller’s design on his twitter profile, stated that the project ‘cost nothing to the student body or the school.’
The artist, Nemo Miller, still hasn’t made a comment about his artwork.
Be sure to leave your thoughts on this in the comments section bellow. Young students sure act strange these days don’t they?
