Trafalgar Square

This is the leaflet about Lois on the plinth that I hope to hand out to anyone who is interested.

Lois is dressed as a pigeon.

Many statues of humans around London have a pigeon sitting on their heads – so Lois had a statue of a man on hers. The statue is a miniature of Anthony Gormley’s Iron Man, which can be found in Victoria Square in Birmingham.

This is a sort of double role reversal joke, the pigeon underneath and the man on top and the live animal underneath and the solid object on top.

Many statues show some aspect of military history so Lois has a replica of the Dickin medal, which is awarded to animals for bravery in war. Most of the recipients have been pigeons (32 out of 54 in the last war).

Lois is also holding a twig and an egg. These represent nest building and future generations. The parallels in human statuary are the orb and sceptre. Actually the orb, which should have a cross on the top, represents, in iconography, the saviour of the world – in pigeon equivalent an egg must be exactly that - the possibility of future generations. What else would the world be saved for?

So although this Plinthing may look like a fairly simple joke, it is in fact an artistic representation of respect for past deeds, home and future – surely exactly what the plinth is all about.

Lois is an artist who currently works almost entirely in machine embroidery. She can be contacted at:-

loismayparker@googlemail.com