Press release: Antony Gormley's One & Other launched: People from across the UK invited to stand on the Fourth Plinth in London's Trafalgar Square26 February 2009Leading 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. Anyone interested in participating can register their interest and find out more at the newly launched project website from today, 26 February 2009 (www.oneandother.co.uk). Formal applications can be made from April 2009. 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. One & Other will provide a fascinating portrait of the UK in the twenty-first century. Every hour, 24 hours a day for 100 days, a different person will take their place on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square in London, in a continuous representation of themselves, their families, or their communities. The 2,400 participants will be chosen at random from the many thousands that are expected to apply. Participants can use their time on the plinth as they like – to perform, to demonstrate, or simply to reflect. Antony Gormley said: “The idea is very simple. Through putting a person onto the plinth, the body becomes a metaphor, a symbol. In the context of Trafalgar Square with its military, valedictory and male historical statues, this elevation of everyday life to the position formerly occupied by monumental art allows us to reflect on the diversity, vulnerability and particularity of the individual in contemporary society. It’s about people coming together to do something extraordinary and unpredictable. It could be tragic but it could also be funny.” Artichoke, an Arts Council regularly funded organisation, best known for bringing The Sultan’s Elephant to London in 2006 and La Machine to Liverpool last year - is producing the event as part of the 2009 Sky Arts Artichoke Season, which will underline Sky’s ongoing commitment to the arts, on screen, online and on the streets. Sky Arts will play a crucial role in One & Other, supporting the event by commissioning a groundbreaking website (www.oneandother.co.uk) which will feature real time footage at any hour of the day or night, as well as a unique application that will enable visitors to the site to see how many people from their own, and other regions across the UK have applied. The project will also be reflected on screen through a weekly programme showcasing the nation’s favourite ‘plinthers’ as voted for on the dedicated website; and a full-length documentary, taking the viewer on the journey from the first application to the final hour on the plinth, to be broadcast on Sky Arts 1 and Sky Arts 1 HD from July. Other partners include the National Portrait Gallery, who will host a live link into the Gallery from the Plinth and mount a programme of public engagement around the project funded by the Arts Council. Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, said: "It's going to be a brilliant case of people coming to art and art coming to the people as the people become the art. A very public demonstration of democracy in action!" Ekow Eshun, Chair of the Fourth Plinth Commissioning Group, said: “One & Other is an outstanding idea - a bold, arresting work that reflects on the multifaceted nature of modern Britain. The project will continue to establish the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square as one of the most exciting sites for public art in the world.” Moira Sinclair, Executive Director, Arts Council England, London, said: 'This remarkable project values the multiplicity of voices within the UK. Antony Gormley will provide a platform for hundreds of people from England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, to stand up and take their places amongst the luminaries of Trafalgar Square, whilst simultaneously continuing to stimulate the fascinating debate about the role of art in everyday life, bringing great art to everyone who passes by this world renowned landmark.' John Cassy, Sky Arts Channel Manager, said: "Sky Arts is about delivering the best of the arts, and thanks to Antony’s vision for One and Other, we can work with Artichoke to demonstrate that we are just as passionate about delivering the arts to the UK off-screen as we are on-screen. It’s our hope that this unprecedented approach to inclusive art is going to inspire thousands of people to engage in art in an entirely new way. And we’re proud to be part of that." Press enquiriesErica Bolton/ Tamsin Selby, Bolton & Quinn, 020 7221 5000 Ben McKnight / Rachelle Laurence, Greater London Authority, 020 7983 4071/4599 Anna Vinegrad/ Natasha Hoare, Idea Generation, 0207 749 6853 Notes to editors1. Taking part 2,400 participants will be chosen from those who apply for a place. The organisers will use a computer programme to select participants at random whilst representing the population density of different parts of the UK. Participants must be aged 16 and over on 6th July 2009 and must live, or be staying in, the UK. The plinth will be accessible to those with disabilities, including wheelchair users. Each participant will spend exactly sixty minutes alone on the plinth. Volunteers may take equipment or props with them, provided they can carry it themselves. Registration is open now - anyone wishing to take part should sign up for more information at www.oneandother.co.uk, or send a large stamped addressed envelope (with stamps to the value of £1.08) to One & Other, c/o Artichoke, Toynbee Studios, 28 Commercial Street, London E1 6AB. Those who have registered will be sent regular updates and notified in April when full applications may be submitted. Applications will open in April 2009, and places will be allocated in three phases. Applicants who are unsuccessful are welcome to apply more than once. There is no audition process. Participants will be chosen at random by computer from those who apply. There are only two criteria – an equal number of men and women will be chosen, and the population of the UK will be represented proportionally by choosing a certain number of people from each region, for example, 207 people from Scotland and 333 from the South East of England. 2. Antony Gormley biography Over the last 25 years Antony Gormley has revitalised the human image in sculpture through a radical investigation of the body as a place of memory and transformation, using his own body as subject, tool and material. Since 1990 he has expanded his concern with the human condition to explore the collective body and the relationship between self and other in large-scale installations like Allotment, Critical Mass, Another Place, Domain Field, and Inside Australia. His recent work increasingly engages with energy systems, fields and vectors, rather than mass and defined volume, evident in works like Clearing, Blind Light, Firmament and Another Singularity. Antony Gormley's work has been exhibited extensively, with solo shows throughout the UK in venues such as the Whitechapel, Tate and the Hayward Galleries, the British Museum and White Cube, and internationally at museums including the Louisiana Museum in Humlebaek, the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington DC, the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin, and the Kölnischer Kunstverein in Germany. Blind Light, a major solo exhibition of his work, was held at the Hayward Gallery in 2007. He has participated in major group shows such as the Venice Biennale and the Kassel Documenta 8. His Field has toured America, Europe and Asia. Angel of the North and, more recently, Quantum Cloud on the Thames in Greenwich, are amongst the most celebrated examples of contemporary British sculpture. One of his key installations, Another Place, is to remain permanently on display at Crosby Beach, Merseyside. He was awarded the Turner Prize in 1994 and the South Bank Prize for Visual Art in 1999. In 2007 he was awarded the Bernhard Heiliger Award for Sculpture. 3. The Fourth Plinth The Fourth Plinth project is funded by the Mayor of London and Arts Council England, London involving a rolling programme of contemporary art commissions to be installed temporarily on the empty plinth in Trafalgar Square. The scheme was initiated in 1998 by the RSA with the support of the Cass Sculpture Foundation. In 1999 responsibility for Trafalgar Square was transferred to the Mayor of London and the Greater London Authority. The scheme is led by the Cultural Strategy team, within the Mayor of London's Office, under the guidance of the Fourth Plinth Commissioning Group (FPCG), which recommends contemporary works to be placed on the plinth. The London office of Arts Council England has been a funding partner supporting the programme since 2003. More information is available on the website: www.fourthplinth.co.uk. The first new commission for the Fourth Plinth under the auspices of the Mayor of London's Fourth Plinth Commissioning Group was Marc Quinn's sculpture, Alison Lapper Pregnant, unveiled in a public ceremony in September 2005. It was replaced in November 2007 by Thomas Schütte's Model for a Hotel. Previous commissions have been Ecce Homo by Mark Wallinger (1999), Regardless of History by Bill Woodrow (2000) and Monument by Rachel Whiteread (2001). The programme is part of the vision for Trafalgar Square to be a vibrant, public space and to encourage debate about the place and value of public art in the built environment. For more information visit the Greater London Authority website: www.london.gov.uk/trafalgarsquare. The Fourth Plinth Commissioning Group is:
4. Sky Arts: On screen, online, on stage and on the streets Sky is all about providing choice. That includes giving arts lovers the content they are passionate about, and making great arts accessible to everyone. Now, with three arts channels in nearly 9 million customer homes across the UK and Ireland, Sky Arts has doubled output to 36 hours every day of the week on Sky Arts 1 and Sky Arts 2, with the best of both shown on Sky Arts HD. Sky wants to support the arts and make them accessible off as well as on screen, to the broadest possible audience. Recent programme highlights include The Book Show - the UK’s only television programme dedicated to books, hosted by Mariella Frostrup; Songbook, a series on some of the greatest songwriters of the day; and Brush with Fame which sees reformed art forger John Myatt paint celebrities such as John Cleese and Robin Gibb in the style of world famous artists. Sky Arts have built a set of partnerships with leading arts organisations and are one of the largest corporate supporters of the arts in the UK. For example, Sky Arts is:
Sky Arts also runs Sky Arts Ats, a series of 24 partnerships each year that bring performances from across the country to a whole new audience through special behind-the-scenes documentaries shown on Sky Arts and skyarts.co.uk. 5. Arts Council England Arts Council England works to get great art to everyone by championing, developing and investing in artistic experiences that enrich people's lives. As the national development agency for the arts, it supports a range of artistic activities from theatre to music, literature to dance, photography to digital art, and carnival to crafts. Great art inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves, and the world around us. In short, it makes life better. Between 2008 and 2011, it will invest £1.3 billion of public money from government and a further £0.3 billion from the National Lottery to create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country. |