Fourth Plinth Shortlist

Nice exhibition at the National Gallery of the five shortlisted sculptures in the next round of the Fourth Plinth Commission.

I always enjoy seeing new works unveiled for the vacant plinth in Trafalgar Square. It’s interesting to see them on a small scale and try to imagine how they will scale up and fit in the space. It’s good that the public can vote and fun to wait to see if the world has agreed with you and how the piece works in reality.

My vote went to Michael Rakowitz’s “The Invisible Enemy Should not Exist” a reproduction of the winged bull which stood at the gate of Nineveh and was destroyed by ISIS in 2015. I loved Assyrian art so would really enjoy seeing this in the square. I love the fact it was partly chosen as it’s was the same dimensions as the plinth. The plan is to create the colour on it using old Iraqi date syrup cans and that industry has also been destroyed by the fighting. This mirrors the idea that the panels on the base of Nelson’s Column are made from salvaged cannons. I also liked the fact that the work would be part of a project he began in 2006 attempting to recreate over 7000 artefacts looted from the Iraq Museum during the war. Just so many layers of meaning!

My second choice was Raqs Media Collective’s “The Emperor’s Old Clothes”, a traditional sculpture of an empty cloak standing as if the body had just walked out. The write up says this is about how power can be absent from a figure of power. I love the idea but the cloak looks so like the one the Queen wears in the Annigoni portrait I worry that it would come to mean something different if it was on the plinth when she died and its original meaning might feel a bit crass.

The only work I didn’t like was Huma Bhubha’s  untitled work. I understand the description that it’s meant to be some sort of action figure but I find it quite ugly. It would be made from cork and polystyrene which I’m sure would treated in some way to cope with the London weather but we run the risk of having an ugly work decaying in the square for a year!

Closes on 26 March 2017

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