NEW DISABLED MONUMENT
Nelson
has competition! The one eyed hero from The Battle Of Trafalgur is no
longer the only London statue based on someone who has a disability. Luckily
the Admiral is dead, Unluckily for him he would have missed all the recent
celebrations which folded around the 200th anniversary. With all that
gradually being a thing of the past it's time to admire a new addition
to Trafalgur square, a 3.5 metre high piece of art of a girl showing her
baps and carrying a baby inside her. This is the statue of Alison Lapper
Pregnant.
Alison was born without any arms and after being pregnant she sat for artist, Marc Quinn for over ten hours so he could model a sculptor of her from marble. She wanted to prove that even though she 'can't lift a finger' (or a hand, or an arm..) She can still be beautiful.
We hate to break this to Alison, but some comments haven't been so kind, Robert Simon, a British Art Journal editor has branded the piece of work as 'horrible' and we intend to agree with him. The short lesbian hair look does her no favors for a start!
However,
we seem to be in the minority as the statue has been given a lot of positive
feedback. Especially from the mayor, Ken Livingstone who said,
"Alison
Lapper Pregnant is a piece about courage and beauty and defiance. This
square celebrates the courage of men in battle. Alison's life is a struggle
overcoming much greater difficulties than many of the men we celebrate
here."
Although, we are aware that Ken is probably the creepiest little bastard in the capital and will suck up to anybody.
The public had the opportunity to express their feelings thanks to various forums on websites and to be fair the feedback was quite positive. As well as that, the unavailing in Trafagular Square saw a good turnout, despite the pouring rain.
The statue is placed on the forth plinth in the square and beat off 'strong competition' from a statues of a two-towered skyscraper, Tomahawk cruise missiles crafted by wood and a car covered in bird crap!
However an unknown armless girl compared to a guy who fought for his country, lost his arm and eye doesn't really give much competition and old Nelson is still king of the disabled figures in London! Kiss me Hardy!
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