Yinka Shonibare - Nelson's Ship

From the guardian :

From the moment the Fourth Plinth Commissioning Group wrote to him three years ago, asking him please to submit a proposal, Shonibare knew in his gut what he wanted to stick on London's highest-profile site for sculpture. "It's a huge honour to do something for Trafalgar Square," he says. "And it seemed obvious to do a work that was connected to the square in some way. I'm surprised no one has done that before. I wanted to do a serious thing for a serious space, but I also wanted it to be exciting, magical, and playful." His big idea was Nelson's Ship in a Bottle, a large-scale model of Horatio Nelson's ship, HMS Victory, from which he commanded the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. The twist in the tail, however, is that this ship's sails would be made of Dutch wax, the brightly coloured African fabric that is Shonibare's trademark. "Nelson's victory freed up the seas for the British, and that led, in turn, to the building of the British Empire. But in a way, his victory also created the London we know today: an exciting, diverse, multicultural city." So his work is intended to be celebratory rather than critical? "Both. I want to make people think. I love London. I don't know any city like it. It has a unique vibe. Maybe this is just a monument to live, and let live."

(More on Yinka here)