Robominer in 2020. Mule pulling ore rail car looks on.

RoboCop Miner Statue

Raton, New Mexico

It seemed like a good idea at the time. A hospital in Raton, New Mexico, that specializes in treating injured New Mexico miners would feature a statue of a miner, nearly 10 feet tall, sculpted by a New Mexico artist. Even better, because of the sculptor's "openness" style, the statue would cost $20,000 less than a traditional bronze statue of the same size.

The statue was placed on its pedestal outside of the entrance of the hospital in December 2009. And some of the miners did not like it at all, including one miner member of the hospital board, who described the statue as "Robo Cop all shot up."

The artist defended her work, which was no different from all of her other shot-up-looking statues. She added that sketches of the statue had been seen and approved by the town back in 2007.

We've seen the Anatomical Swiss Cheese style in other pieces of public art, and we often find it more interesting than the predictable solids of Baked Potato Realism. But, then again, we admit we haven't toiled in mines, been hurt, and found ourselves wheeled past an oversized cyborg with large chunks of its body missing.