empty since 1841, the so-called "fourth plinth", in Trafalgar Square. . .
. . .is, apparently, waiting for the Queen to pop her royal clogs; then there'll be a statue of her, astride a horse for the foreseeable, a grey or bronze version of this:
(I put Liz in especially for Vicus, not for an indulgence of my own)
(I know he'll thank me for this thoughtful thought)
(the fourth plinth is in the north west corner of the square, with the Canadian Embassy at one side, the new wing of the National Gallery on another, looking out onto one of the fountains (the photo below has to be kind of turned a quarter way clockwise for the plinth to pop into the position I describe)
in the meantime (she'll probably last longer than her mother, won't she, so we have quite a while to make the most of it) the plinth has been given over to contemporary artists to use for a short period of time as they see fit. . . Ms Whiteread made a cast of it - as is her style - and popped that on top, upside down, a kind of inverted mirror of the space:
and currently it's the turn of Antony Gormley, whose work, as you know, dear reader, I have long been a fan of
Gormley's idea, named ONE & OTHER, is to let "the people" create their own art, in one hour slots
they - the people - and whatever accessories they decide to take with them - are hoisted up onto the plinth by a JCB
then they are 26' up, and have a 14 1/2' long x 5 1/2' wide space in the corner of Trafalgar Square all to themself (and their audience) for an hour
I told The Teen that I was going to apply for a slot and he was horrified; I didn't - but I have been and had a look at what's going on up there quite a few times. . . it is interesting
one time I was there and a high school teacher was reeling out preprinted postcards using a fishing line - the idea was to write a message for her new class of 12-year-olds and then she'd reel the cards in again and share them with her pupils
she read out some of the better ones; one of which was mine (!) - after she read it out, she shouted "do you really carry coloured felt tips around with you?!"
my message:
it takes rain as well as sunshine to make a rainbow
16 comments:
That's very thought-provoking.
*goes away to think*
Thank you for that thoughtful thought, although I doubt that there are many thoughts that are not thoughtful.
good to know you go out prepared...lol...ya never know when a coloured felt tip might be needed :)
why is your rainbow in reverse?
I shall carry coloured felt tips from now (tomorrow when I buy some) on.
is it so rain could be blue and sunshine yellow?
I was looking up
saw the blue first!
(-:
XX
Congratulations.
I'd love to know what you would have done if you'd been 'allowed' your slot.
I would have frozen from vertigo.
The Teen suggested paint-balling passers-by. . .
having seen the change-overs, I reckon that you'd have about forty-five to fifty minutes up there
if I had a fishing net with a long handle, I'd wave it over the edge of the safety netting and ask the public to "donate" something - a small item - from their pockets/bags for me to glue/mount on a canvas. . .
which I'd then enter for the RA Summer Exhibition (they take mixed media now)
I'd have to have something in the net to offer as an exchange to the donators tho, people like having something to take away and remember the experience by - audience people seemed to respond best to the more interactive plinthers. . .
one time I was there and someone was just reading out aloud, but there was a music busking thing going on in another part of the square and you really couldn't hear the plinther
another time the plinther didn't have their PA system working properly - so you couldn't hear what was being said
one guy just danced (badly) - which was fine, since that was what he chose to do, but if that had been a "gallery" piece I'd have walked on and past without paying much attention
and that's the beauty of it - people just do what they want, it's a platform for variety and choice
if it's not your thing, you don't have to stand about and complain!
(and yes - plinther is a new word now, I believe!)
I'm not sure if I'd have vertigo like you KAZ, more likely nerves. . . and I'd need someone to supply me with lots of coffee!
I can see you up there with a giant piece of paper, making rainbows and angels, and
JUST
before your time is up, unfurling your masterpiece over the edge...
~smile~
What a brilliant idea! I think you'd have been a very good (newly-minted noun) plinther, had you made the cut. But you're doing very well as a plinthologist.
(I carry water colours and a water brush)
:)
Morning
Dave afternoon
shot (-:
dinah I think I prefer being a plinthologist!
sorrow so glad you are smiling
<-- carries wee coloured pencils
You only get four crayons when you go out for dinner.
What's up with that?!
And I thought it was a very, very cool answer, btw. I almost wish someone would ask me the question so I could steal the answer.....LOL
A splendid message - lucky children that you carry coloured felt tips around with you :)
hmmm....I usually have colored (coloured) pencils with me...sometimes colored pens.
I have a cross stitched sampler with a similar message:
the soul would have no rainbow...had the eye no tear
smile
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