Leading British artist, Antony Gormley, today launched his nationwide work, One & Other
, by inviting people, aged 16 and over, from across the UK to participate in the creation of a unique living monument on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square. One & Other will run for 100 days from 6 July 14 October 2009 and will involve 2,400 people from all over the UK who will stand on the plinth for an hour each.
Rachel Wardell, a 35 year-old housewife from Sleaford in the East Midlands was the first member of the public to stand on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square, as part of Antony Gormleys One & Other project, today, Monday 6th July at 9.00am. Commissioned by the Mayor of London and produced in partnership with Sky Arts, the project will see a different person take their place on the Fourth Plinth every hour, 24 hours a day for 100 days.
615 participants have been chosen for the month of July from the 13,000 applications that had been received at the time of the first draw. Nearly 2,000 more applications have been received since. The selected participants come from all over the UK, from as far afield as Coleraine in Northern Ireland to the Norfolk coast, from Paisley in Scotland to the West Country. Participants range from 16 to 83, and list their occupations as everything from blacksmith to professor, aquatic scientist to hospital porter.
Antony Gormley said: One & Other will be a picture, or representation, of a very different kind from the statues around the square or the paintings in the National Gallery. It is not about myths, power or privilege, nor about war and certainly not about death it is an opportunity to look at life. The making of this living monument has changed through the participation of its makers; the Plinthers as they have come to be known. It is amazing how quickly the idea took hold it started as a relatively simple idea but now in becoming real it has an energy and vitality all of its own.
Antony Gormley, renowned for iconic works that include The Angel of the North, was chosen to create the temporary artwork by the Mayor of London's Fourth Plinth Commissioning Group, which is chaired by Ekow Eshun, Artistic Director of the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London. One & Other is the first in a series of extraordinary live events mounted by creative producers Artichoke in partnership with Sky Arts.