This video documents the unveiling of the Fourth Plinth statue Powerless Structures, Fig. 101 by the artist duo Elmgreen & Dragset. On February 23, 2012, the British actress Joanna Lumley unveiled the new temporary artwork for the Fourth Plinth in London’s Trafalgar Square. Conceived by the artist duo Elmgreen & Dragset, the work is a 4,1 meters high golden bronze sculpture that portrays a boy riding a rocking horse. The sculpture is titled Powerless Structures, Fig. 101 and stands in striking contrast to the motives of historical heroes and proud equestrian statues on the other three bases.

The Fourth Plinth is one of four bases that stand at the corners Trafalgar Square in central London. The two smaller southern plinths carry sculptures of Henry Havelock and Charles James Napier; the northern plinths were designed to carry equestrian statues. While the northeastern plinth was completed with a statue of George IV, the northwestern plinth, originally intended to hold an equestrian statue of William IV, remained empty because of insufficient funds. Built in 1841, the Fourth Plinth remained empty for over 150 years.

Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset have finally added the missing equestrian statue to the Fourth Plinth, but their boy astride his rocking horse doesn’t commemorate a glorious history, but is rather symbol for the future, and puts the past in a different perspective.

Elmgreen & Dragset follow Mark Wallinger (1999), Bill Woodrow (2000), Rachel Whiteread (2001), Marc Quinn (2005), Thomas Schütte (2007), Antony Gormley (2009), and Yinka Shonibare (2010) to occupy the Fourth Plinth. In 2013, Katharina Fritsch’s commission Hahn / Cock will be unveiled. The Royal Society of Arts (RSA) initiated the use of the Fourth Plinth for contemporary art in 1998. Today, the Mayor of London with support from Arts Council England funds the Fourth Plinth Programme.

Joanna Lumley Unveils Fourth Plinth Statue, Elmgreen & Dragset’s Powerless Structures, Fig. 101. Trafalgar Square, London / UK, February 21, 2012.

PS: Click here for more info and videos on Elmgreen & Dragset.

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Out now: VernissageTV PDF-magazine No. 18, July 2011.

VernissageTV’s PDF Magazin No. 18 has its focus on the two major art events this year, the 54th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, and Art 42 Basel. Highlights of No. 18 are a personal look at five days in Venice by Miami-based artist duo Guerra de la Paz, and exclusive video and audio downloads for the readers of this issue. Then there are photo galleries showing Elmgreen & Dragset’s exhibition at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen’s Submarine Wharf in Rotterdam, and Ai Weiwei’s solo show Art / Architecture at Kunsthaus Bregenz. For design lovers, there’s a report on Matti Suuronen’s Futuro, House of the Future of the 1960s.

Artists in this issue: Ai Weiwei, Matti Suuronen, Elmgreen & Dragset, and Guerra de la Paz.

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Commissioned by Sculpture International Rotterdam (SIR), the artists Elmgreen and Dragset developed the work “It’s Never Too Late to Say Sorry”. The sculpture (a megaphone inside a steel display case) was unveiled on May 28, 2011, with a performance: A man appears, takes the megaphone, and blares out over the streets: “It’s never to late to say sorry”. This performance will be repeated every day at 12:00 for one year.

The unveiling has been held on the same day as the opening of the first large retrospective of this artist duo’s work in the Netherlands: The One & The Many in the Onderzeebootloods (Submarine Wharf) of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam.

It’s Never Too Late to Say Sorry is part of Sculpture International Rotterdam’s art programme for the Coolsingel axis. A major part of the Rotterdam collection of modern, international artwork is located on the Coolsingel. Over the past few years, the collection has been developed further, and will be expanded even more in the coming years with the addition of current works of international allure. Twelve artists were invited to participate in the program, among them Joep van Lieshout with the work “Cascade”, Cosima von Bonin (“The Idler’s Playground”), and Paola Pivi (“GRRR Jamming Squeak).

Michael Elmgreen & Ingar Dragset: It’s Never Too Late To Say Sorry. Unveiling of the sculpture, May 28, 2011.

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It has been compared already to the Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall, and in fact the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen’s Submarine Wharf is an equally large and impressive space. After Atelier Van Lieshout’s show in 2010, the Submarine Wharf in the Port of Rotterdam is now the arena for Elmgreen & Dragset’s show “The One & The Many”. In this video, Sjarel Ex, the director of Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen talks about Elmgreen & Dragset’s exhibition, and the Submarine Wharf as exhibition space.

The One & The Many is the first major solo exhibition in the Netherlands of Elmgreen & Dragset. For the Submarine Wharf, the Scandinavian artist duo Michael Elmgreen (born 1961) and Ingar Dragset (born 1968) have created not only a huge installation, but have worked with the Ro Theater to provide the visitors with an immersive experience. More than 25 young actors are performing different scenes in the installation.

The exhibition deals with the social isolation of the individual and the lack of communication that Elmgreen & Dragset attribute to an affluent society and consumer culture. It runs through September 25, 2011.

Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen and the Port of Rotterdam have formed a partnership to realize art projects at the Submarine Wharf each summer for five years (until 2014).

Coming soon: Elmgreen & Dragset: It’s Never Too Late To Say Sorry (Performance Sculpture); and Matti Suuronen: Futuro at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen.

See also:

• Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset: Celebrity – The One & The Many. ZKM Museum of Contemporary Art
• Elmgreen & Dragset: The Collectors at Venice Biennial 2009 / Interview with Ingar Dragset
• The Collectors. Curated by Elmgreen & Dragset / Danish Pavilion / Venice Biennial 2009.

Michael Elmgreen & Ingar Dragset: The One & The Many at the Submarine Wharf, Port of Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam. Preview and interview with Sjarel Ex (Director, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen), May 27, 2011.

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Out now: VernissageTV PDF-magazine No. 15, January 2011. In this issue we look back at Art Basel Miami Beach Week with an Miami Basel Overview by FADs Editor at Large Ben Austin (click here for his article at FAD) and photos by Sabine Trieloff, Mark Vogel, and Didier Leroi. (Photos by Didier Leroi and Gregor Rieser).

What else? An art meets design exhibition in Vienna; Pipilotti Rist, Roman Signer and Marc Newson in New York; Paul McCarthy in Los Angeles; Aaron Curry and Moniker in London; Argonaut Mathilda in Istanbul; and Elmgreen & Dragset’s “Celebrity – The One & the Many” at ZKM in Karlsruhe.

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Related Articles:

• Aquariva by Marc Newson: Sea Trials
• Art Basel Miami Beach 2010
• Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset: Celebrity - The One & The Many. ZKM Museum of Contemporary Art
• Aaron Curry: mmnktlplkt / Michael Werner Gallery at 20 Hoxton Square, London
• Paul McCarthy: Three Sculptures / Inaugural Exhibition at L&M Arts Gallery, Los Angeles
• Marc Newson: Transport / Gagosian Gallery New York
• Roman Signer: Four Rooms, One Artist at Swiss Institute, New York
• Pipilotti Rist: Heroes of Birth / Luhring Augustine Gallery, New York