IMG 7021-001-Regardless of History

Cass Sculpture Foundation, Goodwood, West Sussex.

Bill Woodrow's sculpture Regardless of History was originally installed on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square in 2000. It is one in a series of sculptures in which Woodrow used the book as a primary motif. When invited to make a proposal for The Fourth Plinth Woodrow reconsidered a previous maquette for a sculpture he had wanted to realise on a monumental scale—a book and tree with a severed head on the ground. The head in Regardless of History is derived from a fallen statue and placed on the plinth in order to mimic traditional methods of display. The head is topped by a book and a tree, both symbolic of the accumulation of growth and knowledge. This composition is bound together by the tree’s roots, here providing a narrative on the cyclical quality of time. Full of symbolism, the supremacy of nature over civilisation is shown in Regardless of History as it may be observed in the jungles of South America or Thailand, where deserted temples have been reclaimed by nature. Woodrow here emphasises humanity’s fragility in the face of nature, suggesting that we should remain respectful of nature’s power and our place in a natural order and most significantly learn from our history, a common theme in Woodrow’s practice.