Gift horse hans haacke teleprinter

A new sculpture called the Gift Horse has been unveiled on Trafalgar Square's Fourth Plinth. The bronze, by German artist Hans Haacke, is a sculpture of a horse skeleton adorned with a ribbon that displays a live feed from the London Stock Exchange.

The work is the tenth piece of public art to appear on the plinth and replaces a giant blue cockerel, which stood in the spot for 18 months.

But while convention cautions against looking a gift horse in the mouth, it hasn't stopped commentators arguing and speculating about what the sculpture means. Here are five interpretations:

An Invitation The BBC reports that the artist, Haacke, 78, was inspired by an engraving of the anatomy of a horse by English painter George Stubbs, whose works are on display at the National Gallery, also on Trafalgar Square.

Gift horse hans haacke teleprinter book

But Haacke was reluctant to specify what the sculpture was trying to say. "It is an invitation to make connections," he told the BBC, "but I would not like to give directions. I'm sure t