First he gave us The Angel of the North, then we had body doubles of him popping up all over London. Now modern British artist Antony Gormley is taking over the prominent empty Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square and he's putting ordinary people up there for our observation - and amusement, no doubt. A total of 2,400 people will get to stand on the plinth during the 3-month installation for an hour each. Their view is a scenic one, looking out over the National Gallery, Nelson's Column, the bronze lions and the fountains - not to mention the hundreds of people below... expectantly looking up at them. The first selection of people for plinth duty for July have been chosen and the 615 include David Rosenberg - a designer who was involved in the pedestrianisation of Trafalgar Square, Heather Pringle who'll celebrate her 20th birthday (very publicly), and Gwynneth Pedler, who at 83 is the oldest plinther so far. There's a seemingly unending voyeuristic appetite for watching other people (the popularity of Big Brother is a case in point). Couple that with the live, 'anything may happen' element of this artistic experiment, and you can be sure it's going to make for compulsive viewing.
Antony Gormley's One & Other Fourth Plinth project is commissioned by the Mayor of London and produced in partnership with Sky Arts. Sky Arts reports live from the plinth on 6th July at 8.30am, broadcasting a 24hr feed on www.oneandother.co.uk. A weekly programme also goes out on Fridays at 7pm from 10th July on Sky Arts 1 and Sky Arts 1 HD.
(Image: Mock up of member of public on the Fourth Plinth - Cog Design, 2009)
Trafalgar Square
Central London, WC2N 5DS
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First he gave us The Angel of the North, then we had body doubles of him popping up all over London. Now modern British artist Antony Gormley is taking over the prominent empty 
