the fourth plinth

The fourth plinth 

an empty fourth plinth

The fourth plinth is a plinth in Trafalgar square in central London.  The reason being of its presence, is because of an originally planned sculpture, that’s was placed on the plinth of William IV, king of Great Britain and Ireland. But because of insufficient funds, the plinth had to remain bare. It stayed empty for almost 150 years, till 1999 where it was announced that three contemporary artworks were to be displayed onto the plinth. After a while, artists from worldwide started to create different sculptures to be displayed onto the plinth. This would get the artists know, as the sculptor will be seen by a huge number of tourists, the London public and admires of art who might want to buy the sculpture.

The next two artist that are going to be on the plinth, is hans Haacke and DavidShrigley. The two winning Marquette’s are currently being placed on exhibition at the royal London hospital in Whitechapel.

 

Hans Haacke dsign for the plinth portrays a skeleton view of a riderless horse. It’s an ironic sculpture as it’s intended on the equestrian statue of William IV originally planned for the plinth. At the front leg of the hours sculpture is an electorinic ribbon, displaying a live feed ticker of the London’s stock exchange, making the complete link between money, power and history. 

David Shrigley’s statue is a ten-metre-high hand giving a thumbs up. He has used the same colour as the other previous statues in Trafalgar square, dark patina. The height of the thumb on the statue has been exaggerated; The reason being is because Shrigley ambition is to make simple gestures to become a self-fulfilling foresight, that things that are considered bad, for example money problems, unemployment, the weather and society, will benefit from a change of agreement towards positivity