THE END by Heather Phillipson
30 July 2020
THE END, 2020 by collection artist Heather Phillipson has replaced The Invisible Enemy Should Not Exist by Michael Rakowitz as the 13th Fourth Plinth commission in Trafalgar Square, London.
Following artists such as Elmgreen & Dragset, David Shrigley and Antony Gormley, who have previously all been commissioned to produce artworks for the Fourth Plinth, Phillipson’s artwork is the tallest measuring 9.4m and weighing 9 tonnes.
An award-winning poet, as well as an artist, Phillipson often brings together collections of shrewd but humorous observations full of word play and rhythmical tapestries, suggesting the world as she experiences it.
THE END, 2020 is her response to Trafalgar Square’s rich history of a place of protest, festivity and remembrance. Often working with sculpture and video, Phillipson’s interactive artwork is a sculpture of an oversized whip of cream with a cherry on top, almost spilling over the edges of the plinth, which appears to have been landed on by a large fly and a drone. You can see what the sculpture sees by checking out the website www.theend.today where the live feed from the drone’s camera can be watched.
