Teresa Margolles: Installation at Fourth Plinth, Trafalgar Square, London, UK
Current exhibition
Overview
Mil Veces un Instante (A Thousand Times in an Instant) by Teresa Margolles. © James O Jenkins
For the 2024 edition at Fourth Plinth, Margolles is showing an ephemeral installation titled Mil Veces un Istante (A Thousand Times in an Instant). This piece features plaster cast molds of the faces of 726 transgender individuals, created in collaboration with trans people from various parts of the world. Each mold has been made by applying plaster directly onto the participant's face, capturing both their physical features and, through the inclusion of hair and skin cells, a tangible trace of their physical presence.
The plaster casts have been be arranged on all four sides of the plinth, drawing inspiration from the Tzompantli, a brutalist pre-Hispanic relief. Margolles describes the monumental work as a collective act of trust, aiming to visualize and draw attention to the ongoing epidemic of transfemicide, particularly in Latin America. She explains: "This tzompantli is an exercise in trust and a collective work. It is necessary to visualize and signal transfemicide. The work brings together 726 faces of transgender people from around the world, highlighting the murders that disproportionately affect Latin America. This return to the human, to the primal, to the skin as a borderline and basic principle of acceptance, proposes an awareness of the freedom and rights of every human being."
Due to London's rainy and humid climate, the installation will deteriorate, slowly transforming into an anti-monument as it melts away. This process will leave behind residual material on the plinth and the steps below, symbolizing the often-overlooked lives of marginalized individuals. As the piece degrades, it will challenge the norms of public space, demanding attention and invoking a sense of accountability. In this context, the work’s deterioration and its connection to the politics of the site cannot be ignored.
Margolles additionally dedicates the commission to Karla, a transgender woman murdered on December 22, 2016, in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, and to all the other trans individuals who have been killed. Above all, she dedicates it to those trans people who are still living.
The plaster casts have been be arranged on all four sides of the plinth, drawing inspiration from the Tzompantli, a brutalist pre-Hispanic relief. Margolles describes the monumental work as a collective act of trust, aiming to visualize and draw attention to the ongoing epidemic of transfemicide, particularly in Latin America. She explains: "This tzompantli is an exercise in trust and a collective work. It is necessary to visualize and signal transfemicide. The work brings together 726 faces of transgender people from around the world, highlighting the murders that disproportionately affect Latin America. This return to the human, to the primal, to the skin as a borderline and basic principle of acceptance, proposes an awareness of the freedom and rights of every human being."
Due to London's rainy and humid climate, the installation will deteriorate, slowly transforming into an anti-monument as it melts away. This process will leave behind residual material on the plinth and the steps below, symbolizing the often-overlooked lives of marginalized individuals. As the piece degrades, it will challenge the norms of public space, demanding attention and invoking a sense of accountability. In this context, the work’s deterioration and its connection to the politics of the site cannot be ignored.
Margolles additionally dedicates the commission to Karla, a transgender woman murdered on December 22, 2016, in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, and to all the other trans individuals who have been killed. Above all, she dedicates it to those trans people who are still living.
Installation Views
