The End: Fourth Plinth

Funky new public sculpture on the spare plinth in Trafalgar Square by Heather Phillipson.

I always love seeing the new Fourth Plinth works. I hadn’t been convinced by this one when it was in the competition for new ideas back in 2017, thinking it was a bit twee and simple, however in situ I love it. It benefits from being so big and is perfectly proportioned to the plinth. I love the way you can see the ice cream realistically dripping off the base and the hidden weirdness of the fly and drone on the other side.

I liked the fact the drone is broadcasting live footage over the web although I couldn’t get it work when I was there. I’m going back to try again so I can wave at myself! It gives the work an immediacy which we’ve not seen from it since the Antony Gormley piece “One & Other”, which I became slightly obsessed with, when members of the public applied to occupy the plinth for an hour.


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