29 Dec 2018, Trafalgar Square: The Fourth Plinth

“The Fourth plinth is the northwest plinth in Trafalgar Square … originally intended to hold an equestrian statue of William IV, but remained bare due to insufficient funds. For over 150 years the fate of the plinth was debated; in 1998, the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce … commissioned three contemporary sculptures to be displayed temporarily on the plinth … In 2003, the ownership of Trafalgar Square was transferred … to the Mayor of London … this marked the beginning of the Mayor of London’s Fourth Plinth Commission … Under the stewardship of the Fourth Plinth Commissioning Group, the following artworks have been commissioned:

• 5 March 2015 – 6 September 2016, Hans Haacke: Gift Horse. Depicts a skeletal, riderless horse…
• 29 September 2016 – 6 March 2018^, David Shrigley: Really Good. A bronze sculpture of a human hand in a thumbs-up gesture, with the thumb greatly elongated…
• 28 March 2018 – Present, Michael Rakowitz: The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist. A recreation of a sculpture of a lamassu (a winged bull and protective deity) that stood at the entrance to Nergal Gate of Nineveh from 700 B.C. It was destroyed in 2015 by Isis [Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant], along with other artefacts in the Mosul Museum. Rakowitz’s recreation is made of empty Iraqi date syrup cans, representing the destruction of the country’s date industry
• Planned for 2020, Heather Phillipson: The End. A dollop of whipped cream with an assortment of toppings: a cherry, a fly, and a drone. The drone will film passers-by and display them on an attached screen”, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_plinth,_Trafalgar_Square

Context: 3 Jan 2019, Φ Sojourn in London, 27 Dec 2018 – 3 Jan 2019