Bigots are predictably upset over Trafalgar Square’s trans Fourth Plinth artwork
A general view of the installation on the Fourth Plinth, “Mil Veces un Instante” by Teresas Margolles. (Leon Neal/Getty Images)
Outraged amateur critics have described Trafalgar Square’s latest Fourth Plinth commission, which features hundreds of trans and non-binary faces, as an “abomination”.
Teresa Margolles’ sculpture, Mil Veces un Instante (A Thousand Times in an Instant), was revealed on Wednesday (18 September). The artwork is made up of plaster casts of the faces of 726 trans, non-binary and gender-non-conforming victims of violence.
Margolles said the creation was a tribute to her trans friend, Karla, who was murdered in the Mexican city of Juárez in December 2015. No one has ever been convicted of the crime.
In February, when details of the sculpture, which promotes trans rights, were announced, some conservative news outlets were far from impressed.
Following its unveiling, social media has been flooded with hate from people who have called it “garbage”, and “woke virtue-signalling.” Some said that the “only” thing the plinth should be displaying is a memorial to Elizabeth II.
The user wrote: “A hideous bit of lunatic woke virtue-signalling concrete on the Fourth Plinth. The only thing that should be on it is our late Queen Elizabeth II.”
Meanwhile, the headline on an article in The Telegraph even decided that the sculpture “proves Britain has become a self-loathing country”.
Despite all this, Stephanie Lynnette, whose face is one of those featured in the the work, recalled the casting experience as “one of the most liberating examples of allyship”.
Another participant, Tabby Lamb, said it felt “radical to be part of a sculpture celebrating not only our existence, but also our [the trans non-binary community’s] vast diversity”.
The fourth plinth is funded by the Mayor of London with support from Arts Council England and Bloomberg Philanthropies. Find out more at Bloomberg Connects, the free arts and culture app.
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