What's on the Fourth Plinth now

On 18 September 2024, the new Fourth Plinth Commission Mil Veces un Instante (A thousand times an Instant) by Teresa Margolles was unveiled on the Fourth Plinth.

Mil Veces un Instante is made up of plaster casts of the faces of 726 trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming people. The casts were made in Mexico City and Juárez, Mexico; and London. She worked closely with community groups across Mexico and the UK, including Micro Rainbow and QUEERCIRCLE. The casts have been created by applying plaster directly onto the faces of participants, meaning that as well as recording their features the plaster is infused with their hair and skin cells.

Margolles made each cast herself. It was a significant undertaking with over 1000 hours of casting. Each session lasted between 1 and 1.5 hours, to allow time for conversation between the participant and the artist. Teresa and an assistant applied the plaster and allowed it to set before removing the mask and setting it to dry.  She spoke to each participant, who talked about their lives and experiences.

The material is important to the work, it is fragile and will deteriorate (although not disintegrate) over time. The fragility of the material is a reflection community, both fragile and strong. The material also has a tendency to pick up other materials into the work. The material retains traces of the participants such as eyelashes, eyebrows, skin cells, makeup etc, they are present in the work.

This is the 15th commission in the Mayor of London’s Fourth Plinth Programme. Discover more about Mil Veces un Instante and previous commissions in our digital guide available on Bloomberg Connects, the free arts and culture app.