Elmgreen & Dragset’s Fourth Plinth, in London’s Trafalgar Square

It is a popular statue
Elmgreen & Dragset's sculpture for the forth plinth, entitled 'Powerless Structures, Fig. 101', in Trafalgar Square.
(Image credit: Gautier Deblonde)

The weather was kind yesterday in Trafalgar Square as a new artwork by Danish artists (and long-term Wallpaper* collaborators) Elmgreen & Dragset was unveiled on the Fourth Plinth. The 4m-high bronze boy on a rocking horse is a witty and deliberate contrast to the statue of King George IV on the opposite plinth.

’I think we were chosen because so much of our work involves the use of space, and Trafalgar Square is such an important place in London,’ says Ingar Dragset. He and Michael Elmgreen work in the capital but are based in Berlin (their home-cum-studio featured in W*116). The piece, officially named ’Powerless Structures, Fig. 101’, ’is not about victory and defeat but expectation and change,’ Dragset adds.  

Elmgreen & Dragset - who we recently teamed up with for our September fashion story - are no strangers to monarchy-inspired monuments. Elmgreen hails from Denmark, which has its share of regal pomp and ceremony. ’Of course, we are bringing some humour, but we also wanted to bring a human, non-powerful element to the square,’ they say.

The artists also refer to the history of the plinth, which was built in 1841 for an equestrian statue of King William IV, which was never installed. Now, 170 years later, the plinth gets its monument, albeit one of an innocent anti-hero.

More than any other public artwork in London, The Fourth Plinth - set up as an art project in 1998, and supported by Louis Vuitton and Alixpartners - provokes heated discussions and transforms every Londoner into an art critic. ’Golden Boy,’ as the statue has been dubbed, is sure to have its fans and detractors. Ironically (or perhaps deliberately, in this Olympic year), it is supposed to show that there is more to life than winning, and that the simple things in life must also be celebrated.  

For Elmgreen & Dragset, having Joanna Lumley at the unveiling of their sculpture was a highlight. ’She absolutely lights up a room,’ says Elmgreen. The duo met her through Drama Queens, a play they wrote and performed at the Old Vic in 2008.

The Golden Boy follows Yinka Shonibare’s sculpture of Nelson’s Ship in A bottle, and will be replaced next year by German artist Katharina Fritsch’s sculpture of a giant blue cockerel.  

Its an high bronze sculpture

The 4m-high bronze sculpture has been dubbed the 'Golden Boy'

(Image credit: Gautier Deblonde)

Posing for the picture

Ingar Dragset and Michael Elmgreen, in their studio

(Image credit: Gautier Deblonde)

Work on progress

The making of Elmgreen & Dragset's sculpture for the Fourth Plinth

(Image credit: Gautier Deblonde)

This kind of machine required for making of sculpture


(Image credit: Gautier Deblonde)

Using this machine sculptures are made


(Image credit: Gautier Deblonde)

Sculpture of a very big hand


(Image credit: Gautier Deblonde)

Sculpture without head


(Image credit: Gautier Deblonde)

Sculpture head is in progress


(Image credit: Gautier Deblonde)

Sculpture head and leg need to be fixed


(Image credit: Gautier Deblonde)

People working with fire


(Image credit: Gautier Deblonde)

Four men on working


(Image credit: Gautier Deblonde)

Plates are filled with fire


(Image credit: Gautier Deblonde)

Making of big leg as sculpture


(Image credit: Gautier Deblonde)

Man is working on the sculpture leg

(Image credit: Gautier Deblonde)

Man polishing the legs

(Image credit: Gautier Deblonde)

Hand is made

(Image credit: Gautier Deblonde)

Face is very much visible

(Image credit: Gautier Deblonde)

Head of an boy

(Image credit: Gautier Deblonde)

Head and body seperated

(Image credit: Gautier Deblonde)

Worker ears is covered with headphone

(Image credit: Gautier Deblonde)

Everything is broken to pieces

(Image credit: Gautier Deblonde)

With the help of tools sculpture is made

(Image credit: Gautier Deblonde)

Upper portion of the sculpture

(Image credit: Gautier Deblonde)

Can be raised with the help of string

(Image credit: Gautier Deblonde)

Worker wearing headphone

(Image credit: Gautier Deblonde)

It can be raised with the help of coir

(Image credit: Gautier Deblonde)

Horse without hair

(Image credit: Gautier Deblonde)

Horse sculpture work in progress

(Image credit: Gautier Deblonde)

Polishing the horse

(Image credit: Gautier Deblonde)

Designed as a boy riding on the horse

(Image credit: Gautier Deblonde)

Sculpture is inside the screen

The unveiling in Trafalgar Square

(Image credit: Gautier Deblonde)

Opening the sculpture


(Image credit: Gautier Deblonde)

Sculpture is half opened

(Image credit: Gautier Deblonde)

After entire opening of the screen

The 'Golden Boy' in all his glory

(Image credit: Gautier Deblonde)

The back side of the statue


(Image credit: Gautier Deblonde)

Emma O'Kelly is a freelance journalist and author based in London. Her books include Sauna: The Power of Deep Heat and she is currently working on a UK guide to wild saunas, due to be published in 2025.