Blue cockerel and a child on a rocking horse were on Friday chosen for display on the Fourth Plinth in London’s Trafalgar Square. The two sculptures were picked from a shortlist of six, ranging from a working ATM to a Battenberg cake. The plinth, which is the location for specially-commissioned art works, is at present displaying a miniature replica of British naval hero Lord Horatio Nelson’s ship, called Ship in a Bottle, by Anglo-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonibare. British sculptor Antony Gormley’s One & Other project, in which every hour, 24 hours a day, for 100 days without a break, different people occupied the plinth, was the previous one.
London and Berlin-based artist duo Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset are creators of the statue of a boy astride his rocking horse, called Powerless Structures, Fig. 101. The concept of the sculpture aims to elevate the child to the status of a historical hero. “Instead of acknowledging the heroism of the powerful, the work celebrates the heroism of growing up and gently questions the tradition for monuments predicated on military victory or defeat. In this case there is not yet a history to commemorate — only a future to hope for,” the artist duo said.
German-born Katharina Fritsch’s larger than life cockerel in ultramarine blue, which will be unveiled in 2013, is a symbol for regeneration, awakening and strength. The sculpture refers, in an ironic way, to male-defined British society and thoughts about biological determinism, the artist said.