The fourth plinth

The shortlist for the new installation on the Fourth Plinth have been announced. They are The Spoils of War (Memorial for an unknown civilian) by Jeremy Deller; Something for the Future by Tracey Emin; One and Other by Antony Gormley; Sky Plinth by Anish Kapoor; Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle by Yinka Shonibare; and Faîtes L’Art, pas La Guerre (Make Art, Not War) by Bob & Roberta Smith. Clicking on a link will take you to the relevant page on the London government website.

Models of the pieces are on display at the National Gallery on Trafalgar Square until 30 March.

Antony Gormley’s piece calls for 8,670 people to stand on the plinth for an hour each over the course of the year. Off the bat, I rather like the idea. I’m not entirely sure why, but something about putting ordinary people on the plinth is attractive to me. People could do whatever they want (I would probably take a table, chair and pot of tea) but it also emphasises the person on the street amongst the heroes of Trafalgar Square, particularly as some of the heroes aren’t very well known¹.

There is also a comparison to be made with Tracy Emin. Gormley is known for his metal body casts that have been on the skyline around the Hayward lately, but moved on to come up with something new, particularly as something similar to the ‘Gormies’ had already stood on the Plinth – Ecce Homo. Ms Emin did not.

I am not a fan of Tracey Emin. I have no problem with conceptual art, but I think the concepts Emin chooses to explore are uninteresting and her methods derivative. In fairness to Ms Emin, I was probably biased against her from the start. The rubric for Something for the Future reads

For some years Tracey Emin has been interested in the social behaviour of meerkats, small mammals that live together in an egalitarian order in the Kalahari Desert, southern Africa. She has noticed that ‘whenever Britain is in crisis or, as a nation, is experiencing sadness and loss (for example, after Princess Diana’s funeral), the next programme on television is Meerkats United’. Emin proposes to place a sculpture of a small group of meerkats on the empty plinth as a symbol of unity and safety.

This is an example of selection bias, as there are events as tragic that affected one person that did result in the meerkat effect (the death of Jean Charles de Menezes, for instance). It also misses the fundamental point about meerkats – they’re permanently at risk and so are always on guard. Meerkats are an example of perpetual terror, danger and flight, not unity and safety and certainly not anything I would like to feature in my future. Meerkats also have a hierarchical society, with alpha males leaving their scent on subordinates so that everyone knows who is in charge. It is also effectively nicking the aesthetics of a previous statue on the Fourth Plinth, Ecce Homo.

The Smiths’ piece could have been very interesting. Its size would rival Nelson’s Column and I like the idea of highlighting an anti-war message on a square named for a great battle and with statues and busts of military leaders, particularly as Trafalgar Square has been the culmination for several large rallies opposed to various wars over the years. I also like the idea of powering a dynamic installation with solar and wind power. However, it falls down on one significant point: aesthetically, it’s rubbish. It is displeasing to the eye and looks like a child has cobbled together some Meccano. I don’t see why it has to be in French, and the message could be slightly more subtle than ‘make art, not war’, particularly as the presence of a huge piece of art suggests that war isn’t preventing people from making art.

The Spoils of War is trying to do the same as Make Art not War, but isn’t (to my mind) as interesting. Where Alison Lapper Pregnant or Hotel for the Birds challenge preconceived opinions, I don’t think people, given the amount of televisual and pictorial reporting, think that war is not destructive. It is interesting, though, that the shortlisting committee chose two pieces directly related to war, which I suspect is because of Trafalgar Square’s return to prominence as a place of protest following its pedestrianisation and redevelopment.

Anish Kapoor’s Sky Plinth could work and could offer some interesting photos, but I feel that something less abstract is needed following Hotel for the Birds. I would add that a brief examination of the model did not reflect the ceiling.

Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle presses all the buttons for me. It is aesthetically both striking and interesting and has multiple layers of interest – the bottle, the ship and the sails, which will be made of designs based on batik. The sails are, apparently, presumed to be of African origin, when they are more accurately a product of the mix of cultures in London and it will fit in well with the history and name of the square. The ship in a bottle also appeals to me as something quirky, which seems appropriate for eccentric London.You can leave comments on the London government website as well as here. It will come as no surprise that my preferred choices are either Yinka Shobinare’s Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle or Antony Gormley’s One and Other. I would very much like to hear what other people think in the comments.

xD.

1 – While everyone has probably heard of Horatio Nelson, James II and George Washington, I wonder how many have heard of Henry Havelock, Charles James Napier or Andrew Cunningham.