The fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square has been empty since 1841 when it was first built. Things started to change in 1999 when the Mayor of London created the Fourth Plinth Commissioning Group which was to find temporary art work to put on the plinth. Over recent years artists featured on the plinth have included Mark Wallinger, Mark Quinn and Rachel Whiteread.
The latest artist to be commissioned for the plinth is one of my favourite British artists – Anthony Gormley. His work, which started today at 9am, is called One and Other and will last for 100 days. Every hour for the next 100 days someone new will stand on the plinth and join the other statues in Trafalgar Square. Come rain or shine there will be someone up on the plinth for the next 2,400 hours.
Not surprisingly there was a lot of press and public interest today with the launch, it will be interesting to see how the project develops over the next 100 days. I went to have a look after work and there were quite a few people around the plinth watching this guy. Until it started raining he had been making paper aeroplanes and throwing them into the square. But you’ve got to feel sorry for those that get selected to go up at something like 3am, can’t imagine there will be too many people in the square offering support!
If you’re not in London and want to see what’s happening head over to www.oneandother.co.uk where they have a live webcast of the plinth.
1 Comment
July 6, 2009 at 10:13 pm
Cool shots.