Mexican Artist Teresa Margolles Creates Monument to Trans Community for Trafalgar Square

The gritty work by Mexican artist Teresa Margolles will be installed on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square, London. Titled Mil Veces un Instante (A Thousand Times in an Instant), the piece will consist of moulds taken from the faces of 726 transgender, non-binary and gender nonconforming people, with half coming from Mexico and half sourced in London. The life masks, cast in plaster and full of traces that mark them as deeply personal to their subjects–smudged lipstick, false eyelashes and a half eyebrow included —serve as monuments to bring attention to the invisible forces pushing against others in which I too have been complicit.

The project references the Mesoamerican practice of tzompantli — a wooden rack used for the public display of the skulls of war captives or human sacrifice victims, and intended to serve as a memorial to honour and validate trans experience.

From a Mexican Morgue to Trafalgar Square

Margolles, who is famed for her work with death and violence, operates a studio beside a morgue in Mexico City. The matter was made clear by the use of body fluids, like those from dead bodies, which Rodriguez has incorporated into her art for four decades to address the pervasiveness of violence in Mexico. Yet in Mil Veces un Instante she turns her gaze to the living, offering a sharp critique of those who have been persecuted, attacked and marginalised by others — particularly in Mexico, where gay and transgender people also face among the world’s highest rates of homophobic and anti-trans violence.

The casts will be worn down by whatever is in the London air over two years, representing the number of lives and stories being wiped out, particularly in those parts of the world where so many trans people are being murdered.

A Personal Connection to Death and Violence

Margolles’ relationship with death began during her childhood in the state of Sinaloa, which has a long history of violence. This exposure found her studying forensic science, that would allow her into morgues and became the cornerstone in forming her theory as an artist of, the dead body is a literal-reflective entity of society During the 1990s, she co-created Proyecto Semefo, an interdisciplinary cooperation among artists who worked with forensic material salvaged from murder investigations for a confrontation with violence in Mexico.

Margolles has stated that her work is meant to be shocking so we must confront the brevity of life and barbarity of death. This is the principle that guides Mil Veces un Instante, giving honor not only to those taken by violence but also celebrating the strength of a community endured.

A Tribute to Karla La Borrada

It also doubles as a monument to Karla La Borrada, a 67-year-old transgender singer and former sex worker whom Margolles met in Ciudad Juárez, one of Mexico’s most deadly cities. In 2015 Karla was murdered, and Margolles wanted to be soldable to honor her generating from a collective piece that represent the trans community as a whole. “I decided to not do a single piece in her memory, but to represent all of the trans community — an artwork that symbolises that the whole community holds and hugs her,” Margolles asserted.

Collaboration and Trust: A Key to the Project

We let trust be an essential for the growth of Mil Veces un Instante. Consulting with two trans assistants, from Mexico ( Mo Marin Mendez ), London-based tattoo artist Sega, Margolles led the participants in casting their faces. Such assistants helped in building trust among the volunteers, who included many individuals that have faced violence and whereabouts. Beyond the sculpture with their faces, each participant curated a playlist and that will be highlighted and played during the reveal of their installation making it more personal to what they offered.

The Fourth Plinth: A Place for Reflection

The installation will stand in Trafalgar Square for two years, subject to the elements. Margolles hopes that as the casts erode under London’s rain and pollution, they will create new life-forms, much like the evolving narratives of the trans people they represent. “We know how it’s going to start,” says Margolles. “But we don’t know how it will finish.”

Mil Veces un Instante will be on view in Trafalgar Square, London, from 18 September 2024.

Feature Image: Teresa Margolles, Mil Veces un Instante (A Thousand Times in an Instant), 2024.| Courtesy: James O Jenkins. Courtesy of Fourth Plinth Commission.

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