Trafalgar Square

:For other places with the same name, see Trafalgar Square (disambiguation).

The Fourth Plinth

The fourth plinth on the northwest corner was intended to hold a statue of William IV, but remained empty due to insufficient funds. Later, agreement could not be reached over which monarch or military hero to place there.

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In 1999, the RSA (Royal Society of Arts) conceived the idea of the Fourth Plinth Project, which temporarily occupied the plinth with a succession of works commissioned from three contemporary artists. These were:

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• "Ecce Homo" by Mark Wallinger (1999)
• "Regardless of History" by Bill Woodrow (2000)
• "Monument" by Rachel Whiteread (2001)

Wallinger's Ecce Homo, whose title, in Latin, means "behold the man" (a Biblical reference), was of a life-sized man. Atop the huge plinth, designed for larger-than-life statuary, it looked miniscule. Some commentators said that, far from making the man look insignificant, his apparent tininess drew the eye powerfully; they interpreted it as a commentary on human delusions of grandeur.

Related Topics:
Latin - Biblical

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Whiteread's Monument, by an artist already notable for her controversial Turner Prize-winning work "House" and the Holocaust Memorial in Vienna, was a cast of the plinth in transparent resin, and placed upside-down on top of the original. Following the exhibition project, some wished to see it continue in this role.

Related Topics:
Turner Prize - Vienna

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Various companies have used the plinth (often without permission) as a platform for publicity stunts, including a model of David Beckham by Madame Tussauds. The London-based American harmonica player Larry Adler jokingly suggested erecting a statue of Moby Dick, which would then be called the "Plinth of Whales".

Related Topics:
David Beckham - Madame Tussauds - Harmonica - Larry Adler - Moby Dick - Plinth of Whales

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The best use of the fourth plinth remains the subject of debate. On March 24, 2003 an appeal was launched by Wendy Woods, the widow of the anti-apartheid journalist Donald Woods, hoping to raise £400,000 to pay for a 9 ft high statue of Nelson Mandela by Ian Walters. The relevance of the location is that South Africa House, the South African high commission, scene of many anti-apartheid demonstrations, is also located on Trafalgar Square.

Related Topics:
March 24 - 2003 - Apartheid - Donald Woods - Nelson Mandela - Ian Walters - South Africa - High commission

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A committe convened to consider the RSA's late-1990s project concluded that it had been a success and "unanimously recommended that the plinth should continue to be used for an ongoing series of temporary works of art commissioned from leading national and international artists." (http://www.fourthplinth.co.uk) After several years in which the plinth stood empty, the new Greater London Authority assumed responsibility for the fourth plinth and started its own series of temporary exhibitions:

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• Marc Quinn: Alison Lapper Pregnant (September 15 2005)
• Thomas Schutte: Hotel for the Birds (scheduled for April 2007)

Quinn's Alison Lapper Pregnant is a 3.6m marble torso-bust of Alison Lapper, an artist who was born with no arms and shortened legs due to a condition called Phocomelia.

Related Topics:
Alison Lapper - Phocomelia

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