on the sculpture terrace

First Plinth: Public Art Award (formerly FIRST@108: Public Art Award) is designed to offer sculptors an opportunity to extend their practice into competing for public art commissions. The winning sculptor is awarded £10,000 towards the cost of producing a large-scale sculpture which will be exhibited in 2020 on our sculpture terrace before moving to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park this winter.

The sculpture terrace will feature new work by the 2019 winner, Fabio Lattanzi Antinori, examining how digital technology and online communication are affecting the way we view the world and relate to one another.

Language, in the form of search keywords, has become a commodity with a financial value. Online personalised search and customer tailored algorithms are designed to predict our consumer preferences but ultimately result in us existing n a state of intellectual isolation. This filter bubble is seen as largely responsible for the increasing sense of polarisation in our online and offline interactions. By uniting and dividing individuals, it is redefining the very idea of democracy.

The Cost of Your Words is a bold digital sculpture displaying the current cost of keywords, making a statement from the unexpected associations of words and their relevance in today's society. 

This award is generously supported by the Mirisch & Lebenheim Charitable Foundation.

Listen to Fabio discussing his new artwork, The Cost of Your Words on our Vimeo channel.

First Plinth essay by Isabel de Vasconcellos