Hahn/Cock: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Sculpture by Katharina Fritsch}}

{{Infobox artwork

| image_file = Hahn-Cock.jpg

| metric_unit = cm

| imperial_unit = ftin

}}

 

 

==Meanings==

Fritsch says that there are many possible interpretations of the cockerel, which took her two and a half years to create, but calls it "a feminist sculpture, since it is I who am doing something active here – I, a woman, am depicting something male. Historically it has always been the other way around. Now we are changing the roles. And a lot of men are enjoying that."<ref name="Guardian">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/jul/25/big-blue-cock-trafalgar-square |title=Big blue cock erected on fourth plinth in London's Trafalgar Square|last=Higgins|first=Charlotte|newspaper=The Guardian|date=25 July 2013|accessdate=27 July 2013}}</ref> She notes that the surrounding area has a strongly male character, with numerous statues of "male persons standing on pedestals" and the male-dominated culture that goes with London's status as a business centre. The statue is intended to be a humorous counterbalance, contrasting with the very formal [[equestrian statue]]s on the square's other three plinths: "Humour is always a big thing for me. It stops things from becoming too severe. I like English humour. It is so often very dark."<ref name="Guardian" />

 

 

 

It was unveiled on 25 July 2013 by [[Mayor of London]] [[Boris Johnson]]. He pointed out the irony that the cockerel, an unofficial national emblem of [[France]], was standing in a square commemorating [[Battle of Trafalgar|a famous British victory over the French]].<ref name="Guardian" /> Fritsch has said that she was unaware of the connection until it was explained to her. According to Fritsch, she chose the cockerel to represent strength and regeneration, "but it's a nice humorous side-effect to have something French in a place that celebrates victory over [[Napoleon]]. He has come back as a cockerel!"<ref>{{cite news |last=Barnett |first=Laura |title=Katharina Fritsch on her Fourth Plinth cockerel sculpture: 'I didn't want to make fun – but I was invited' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/jul/24/katharina-fritsch-fourth-plinth-cockerel-sculpture |newspaper=The Guardian |date=24 July 2013 |accessdate=2 August 2020}}</ref> Johnson said in his speech that "I hope French people will not take it as excessive British chauvinism – but for me it stands for [[2013 Tour de France#General classification|the recent British triumph in the Tour de France]], which we have [[2012 Tour de France#General classification|won twice in a row]] ... it is a symbol of French sporting pride, brought like a chicken to London. We have mounted this French cock at the heart of our imperial square."<ref name="Guardian" />

 

 

==Reception==

The giant cock received generally positive reviews from art critics, with punning headlines such as "Big blue cock erected on fourth plinth in London's Trafalgar Square",<ref name="Guardian" /> "Boris Johnson in Trafalgar Square with a Massive Blue Cock And Disgruntled Woman"<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/07/25/boris-johnson-caption-comp_n_3651708.html|title=Boris Johnson in Trafalgar Square with a Massive Blue Cock And Disgruntled Woman|work=The Huffington Post UK|date=25 July 2013|accessdate=28 July 2013}}</ref> and "Boris Johnson unveils giant cock in Trafalgar Square"<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.uk.msn.com/uk/boris-johnson-giant-cock-trafalgar-square-london|title=Boris Johnson unveils giant cock in Trafalgar Square|publisher=MSN UK|last=Jones|first=Ian|date=25 July 2013|accessdate=28 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130728122743/http://news.uk.msn.com/uk/boris-johnson-giant-cock-trafalgar-square-london|archive-date=28 July 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>).

 

 

[[BBC News]]' arts correspondent Rebecca Jones wrote that the work has "a kind of joyful aspect to it which will put a smile on many people's faces".<ref name="BBC">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-23448832|title=Blue cockerel takes roost on Fourth Plinth|publisher=BBC News|date=25 July 2013|accessdate=28 July 2013}}</ref> Visitors interviewed by the London ''[[Evening Standard]]'' newspaper also gave it a thumbs up.<ref name="Standard">{{cite news|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/sacre-bleu-lord-nelson-now-looks-down-on-a-giant-french-cock-in-trafalgar-square-8731524.html|title=Sacre bleu! Lord Nelson now looks down on a giant French cock in Trafalgar Square|work=Evening Standard|location=London|last=Jury|first=Louise|date=25 July 2013|accessdate=27 July 2013}}</ref> The Thorney Island Society, a local conservation group, objected to the sculpture on the grounds that it was "unrelated to the context of Trafalgar Square and adds nothing to it but a feeble distraction", but ''The Guardian's'' chief arts writer [[Charlotte Higgins]] pointed out that Fritsch's other works have a habit of "appear[ing] "fanciful and dramatic" and "unrelated" to their contexts." She commented that one should not "overthink it. It's a big, blue, funny, weird, surreal bird in Trafalgar Square. It's going to cheer us all up. Katharina's Cock, as I'd like to think of it, should be a hit."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2013/may/01/art-sculpture|title=Planning cock-up on Trafalgar Square's Fourth Plinth|last=Higgins|first=Charlotte|work=The Guardian|date=1 May 2013|accessdate=2 August 2013}}</ref>

 

==References==

 

{{Trafalgar Square}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hahn Cock}}

[[Category:2013 sculptures]]

[[Category:Outdoor sculptures in London]]

[[Category:Trafalgar Square]]

[[Category:Feminist art]]

[[Category:Outdoor sculptures in Washington, D.C.]]