SMASHING TIME
s we slip into autumn with the world still in the grip of the pandemic (turn to p.8 for our round-up of Covid-19 news), we can look back at a summer marked by protests and demonstrations (often mobilising the current concerns of the conspirasphere, from 5G to global elite pædophile rings; of 1566). In this month’s cover story (p.32) Alan Murdie asks whether the frenzy of statue-toppling we’ve witnessed in recent months might be more than just a form of explosive historical revisionism fuelled by energies pent up by months of lockdown: do statues and monuments embody deeper human fears about death and the uncanny? From ambulatory stone lions and wandering giants to swaying Virgins, there is a rich lore devoted to moving statues.
