The good news is it’s temporary. The bad news is…

Trans and non-binary faces unveiled on Fourth Plinth

Hundreds of plaster casts of transgender and non-binary people have been unveiled as the latest installation on the Trafalgar Square Fourth Plinth in central London. Called Mil Veces un Instante (A Thousand Times in an Instant) the sculpture was created by Mexican artist Teresa Margolles and features the faces of 726 trans, non-binary and gender non-conforming people.

The plinth was built in 1841 to display a permanent statue of William IV, but money ran out.

Which is just as well, because who the hell even remembers who William IV was? Or cares?

It was empty until 1999 when it became the location for an ongoing series of temporary artworks, including pieces by David Shrigley, Rachel Whiteread and Antony Gormley.

Temporary. Yay. Can we take this one down now?

Mil Veces un Instante was made by applying plaster directly onto the faces of the models, many of whom were sex workers, so the material became infused with the sitters’ hair and skin cells.

Oh good. Good good good. Let’s make “sex work” something we canonize in public spaces. Next up: statues of men who like to beat up and/or rape women.