Statue of disabled pregnant woman in Trafalgar Square...

[Pavilionaire]

Any thoughts on this?

LONDON (Reuters) - A monumental statue of a naked pregnant woman born without arms and with stunted legs will be unveiled on Thursday in the centre of London.

The 3.6-metre-tall statue, "Alison Lapper Pregnant", will sit for 18 months in the north west corner of Trafalgar Square on a plinth largely bare since it was built in 1841.

Carved from a single block of white Italian marble and weighing twelve tonnes, the statue will share one of London's most famous open spaces with the 56-metre-tall Nelson's Column and the classical facade of the National Gallery.

The specially commissioned work was designed by British artist Marc Quinn and was carved in Italy.

It shows disabled British artist Alison Lapper when she was eight and a half months pregnant.

"Nelson's column is the epitome of a phallic male monument and I felt that the square needed some femininity," said Quinn.

"It is rare to see disability in everyday life," said Lapper, "let alone naked, pregnant and proud."

The statue was one of two works selected for Trafalgar Square from a six-strong shortlist by the Fourth Plinth Commission.

The second work, Thomas Schuette's "Hotel for the Birds", a multi-coloured perspex statue in the form of an architectural model, will take over the plinth in April 2007. END


When asked this morning how she felt about having her image in Trafalgar Square she said "At least I didn't get here by slaying people"!!

 

[HampshireSeagulls]

A victory for the PC brigade, so her comment about "not slaying people" could be replaced by "I would not have stood a better chance of getting up here if I had been a black one-eyed lesbian". A column is apparently "the epitome of a male phallic monument" - really, I would have said it was the best way of getting a statue up in the air using the least ground space possible!

Well done to her, 18 months of being shat on by pigeons before being replaced with a perspex bird house.....

 

[Faldo]

As I walked past this morning I thought it looked very nice wrapped up in a an eerie glowing purple plastic that completely obscured its true form.

It is bloomin massive though - eyesore tastic.

 

[Pavilionaire]

It is a victory by the PC brigade for sure.

I was actually offended by her remarks about the "slayer statues" already in the square.

Sometimes you have to fight to protect your land, and Nelson helped to keep this a free country, the sort of place where a woman with no legs and arms can bring up a kid in safety, a kid that will end up speaking English, not German or French.

 

[Grendel]

A victory for the PC brigade, so her comment about "not slaying people" could be replaced by "I would not have stood a better chance of getting up here if I had been a black one-eyed lesbian". A column is apparently "the epitome of a male phallic monument" - really, I would have said it was the best way of getting a statue up in the air using the least ground space possible!

Well done to her, 18 months of being shat on by pigeons before being replaced with a perspex bird house.....

Agreed.

It's also a fairly grotesque sculpture.

 

[Faldo]

It is a victory by the PC brigade for sure.

I was actually offended by her remarks about the "slayer statues" already in the square.

Sometimes you have to fight to protect your land, and Nelson helped to keep this a free country, the sort of place where a woman with no legs and arms can bring up a kid in safety, a kid that will end up speaking English, not German or French.

Exactly! These 'slayers' protected and formed the country we have today.

As opposed to some ugly bird getting knocked up (although thats probably a reflection of where our society is today).

 

[Curious Orange]

It's just a statue.

Nelson did something. Alison Lapper represents something.

I don't see that one should be held in higher regard than the other. The only question that need be asked is "Is it any good?"

 

[Marshy]

There was a TV program about her a while back, shes a remarkable woman all in all.

 

[Meade's Ball]

I'll go and have a look at it. Sounds interesting. Might make me have a think. What more can you ask from art?

 

[clapham_gull]

She's not referring to Nelson Column.

She's referring to the other statues in the corners of the square.

Who are they then ?

Exactly ? Hardly names on the tip of everyones tongue and you have to ask the question whether they deserve to be there (and other people have done so in the past, without being "PC").

So its not just her opinion and neither is she being direspectful to Nelson. Its a debate thats been going on about the sqaure for years. Its not great surprise that the fourth plinth has never had a "full time" statue on it.

I believe two are a couple of guys who probably shot a load of natives protecting India or somewhere. Hardly national heroes and not exactly people who would even pop up in a History lesson at school. The other is George IV (I had to look that up) - they had to put his name on it a few years later because nobody knew who the statue was of.

Time to move those statues out and put some real heroes up there.

 

[Deano's Right Foot]

I admire the woman and I like the sculpture and the fact that it's in such a prominent place. It's done it's job already if it's started a thread about it on a football board.

 

[London Irish]

Isn't Alison Lapper from Shoreham? Why can't we be proud of her as a local woman done good rather than the usual anti-PC bores running her down?

 

[ben andrews' girlfriend]

I think it's excellent - she's what sums up a modern day fighter - not someone who's famous for killing people. I've watched programs about her and she is really someone that makes you forget all your troubles.

I'm going next week to see it.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

She's not referring to Nelson Column.

She's referring to the other statues in the corners of the square.

Who are they then ?

Exactly ? Hardly names on the tip of everyones tongue and you have to ask the question whether they deserve to be there (and other people have done so in the past, without being "PC").

The statues are of Sir Henry Havelock famous for the relief of Lucknow during the Indian mutiny and Sir Charles Napier who conquered Sind (also in India).

 

[HampshireSeagulls]

I believe two are a couple of guys who probably shot a load of natives protecting India or somewhere. Hardly national heroes and not exactly people who would even pop up in a History lesson at school. The other is George IV (I had to look that up) - they had to put his name on it a few years later because nobody knew who the statue was of.

Time to move those statues out and put some real heroes up there.

Those statues are of the following:

The equestrian statue of Charles I at the south end of the square is noteworthy, as being the original site of Charing Cross. This is the spot from which all 'distances from London' are measured.

On either side, are the bronze statues of Sir Henry Havelock (relief of Lucknow, so yes he is a nice easy target for imperialist apologists) and Sir Charles James Napier (another Indian campaigner) both Victorian major generals. Fronting the north wall are busts of Beatty, Jellicoe and Cunningham all famous Naval leaders. In the north east corner, is a statue of George IV on horseback, commissioned by him.

Who would you have up there? Given the prediliction of today's youth for voting for people that their memory can recognise, we would end up with Beckham, Wilkinson and Hear'Say.....possibly J K Rowling for those that realise that Harry Potter is not a real person.

Good luck to her, she's been selected to be turned into a work of art, but there are thousands of people who are equally deserving, but not as strikingly physically different as she is.

 

[3gulls]

Any thoughts on this?

LONDON (Reuters)
When asked this morning how she felt about having her image in Trafalgar Square she said "At least I didn't get here by slaying people"!!

f***ing slag!

Just got there for being a freek!

 

[Publius Ovidius]

I have no problem with a statue of her at all, however I think it is a bit daft putting it in a piece of land, ie Trafalgar Square that is a monument to our Military history.

Why not put it outside one of the museums, the tate Modern as an example, after all it is "art" isn't it. It doesn't commemorate anything?

 

[ben andrews' girlfriend]

Re: Re: Statue of disabled pregnant woman in Trafalgar Square...

f***ing slag!

Just got there for being a freek!

I suppose you should be there for being such a c.unt

 

[Publius Ovidius]

Re: Re: Re: Statue of disabled pregnant woman in Trafalgar Square...

I suppose you should be there for being such a c.unt

thats my girl...you tell the twat

 

[CHAPPERS]

I'll go and have a look at it. Sounds interesting. Might make me have a think. What more can you ask from art?

To explain why exactly he fell out with Paul in the first place.

guffaw