The Zipper
Where can I find it?
The Zipper is in front of the two main auditoriums of the Science Theatres building; when you exit the stairwell from Leon the Frog, the shortest path will be to your left, facing the Arts Co-op Office. Then, take another left.
The beloved Zipper is a kinetic art piece right outside the two auditoriums in the Science Theatres, which is said to bring good luck if you spin it before an exam. Beloved and lucky, except for Engineering students, who have considered it a curse after two unfortunate events: once, some students picked it apart to see how it works only to be unable to put it back, having to call the artist to piece it together again; and in another, an Engineering student spun the Zipper for good luck before an exam, but broke their arm in doing so instead.
The piece was created by Calgary artist Katie Ohe, who completed the sculpture in 1975, by which the university promptly purchased and installed it where students have known it to be since then (at that point, it was also called the “Chrome Pretzel”). Throughout its early years, the Zipper has been used as an advertising board due its popularity and central location, as well as the place to take a picture with alongside dressing up as a barber shop quartet for a 1985 campus-wide scavenger hunt.