Last month saw the unveiling of the fourth plinth, the public art commission ‘Mil Veces un Instante (A Thousand Times in an Instant)’ by Mexican artist Teresa Margolles. The fourth plinth which began in 1994 sees a leading artist make a public sculpture, held in the space for two years. Since its inception in 1994, there have been 15 different sculptures occupying the plinth, which has opened up a conversation with Britain’s past, present and future histories. Made for public consumption it is a key platform for showcasing and celebrating the importance of art in advocating key debates of our time and showing us new ways of seeing.
The new work unveiled on the 18th of September 2024 by Margolles has been no different. It sees a large sculpture of 726 cast faces of trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming people. The label on the plinth itself, recalls the murder of Karla a transgender woman found dead in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico and states that the work is made in honour of Karla and the other trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming people, who have faced violence and abuse on the grounds of their identity. The sculpture is defined as being collectively made in London, Ciudad Juárez, and Mexico City between 2021 – 2024.
This is a striking piece of work, which stands at 2.5m tall and weighs 3.3 tonnes. Once scanning the QR Code the visitor can find out more information about the piece and how it was created. You learn that each sitter was asked to choose a piece of music or to make a playlist that they could listen to, whilst sitting through the plaster cast process. The whole appointment with each sitter, the artist and the artists assistant, took between 1–1.5hrs and of that, 30 minutes were used for the casting. With such a time encompassing and laboursome piece, what we are witness to, is the sensitive and vulnerable display of faces that are then placed on X shaped fixers, which we are told have been inspired by the form of a ‘Tzompantli’, an Aztec skull rack. We are left with the inside of the casts facing us, as the front of the faces are up against a metal frame, which cannot not be seen.
Written by Dr Ope Lori, PhD
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