A red lion will be added to Trafalgar Square next month, as part of the London Design Festival.
Created by artist and designer, Es Devlin, the idea for the fifth lion came from a conversation last year when the London Design Festival’s co-founder Sir John Sorrell said told Devlin that the sculptor of the lions had originally “proposed a much more animated stance, but Queen Victoria found it too shocking”.
Devlin then pondered how to animate the lions, and the result is an artwork, entitled Please Feed the Lions that will be on display for the festival.
During the day, visitors to Trafalgar Square will be able to “feed the lion” words by typing words into a screen next to the lion. Looking into the mouth of the lion visitors will see an ever-evolving poem forming.
At night time, a finished poem will be projected onto Nelson’s Column.
The fifth lion is being made from a resin foam based on a LIDAR scan of the existing Landseer lions, but unlike their black countenance with closed mouths, this new lion will be painted fluorescent red-orange and will be roaring.
You can “feed the lion” between 18th to 23rd September.
Legend has it that the lions will come to life if Big Ben chimes 13 times, but if they do, one will roar in prose.
Fascinating. Hope it doesn’t bite. Even though it’s not real but it does look stunning.