Press release: Public launch of Antony Gormley's Fourth Plinth marathon begins6 July 2009Rachel Wardell, a 35 year-old housewife from Sleaford in the East Midlands will be the first member of the public to stand on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square, as part of Antony Gormley’s One & Other project, today, Monday 6th July at 9.00am. While on the plinth Rachel will raise awareness for the NSPCC. Commenting on being chosen she said: ‘I am a stay-at-home mum with 2 young children. I have no great involvement in the Arts but felt moved to get involved with this project for several reasons. I'm originally from Newcastle and the Angel of the North has a great emotional significance for me. I like the idea of the Arts as inclusive rather than exclusive and feel like this is something that Antony Gormley, and this project in particular, embrace. I wanted to be able to represent normal, everyday stay-at-home mums who aren't normally a feature of major artworks - to show my kids now, and when they're older, that you can do, and be part of anything, no matter how ordinary you are or feel.’ 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. Applications for the project are still open and can be made at www.oneandother.co.uk. Mayor of London Boris Johnson, who joined Antony Gormley to see Rachel take her place on top of the plinth, said: 'What an amazing experience for everyone taking part in One & Other. It's a brilliant social experiment as well as artistic work and will be fascinating to follow over the next 100 days.' Other participants today include:
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. Another 1,500 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, scientist to hospital porter. Sky Arts will broadcast all the live action from the Fourth Plinth, twenty four hours a day, over 100 days, on the One & Other website, as well as screening a weekly programme live from the plinth. Altogether 2,400 participants will be chosen at random by computer algorithm. The population of the UK will be represented proportionally by choosing a certain number of people from each region. Participants can use their time on the plinth as they like – to perform, to demonstrate, or simply to reflect. Applications remain open until 1 September and places for the plinth will be allocated in a further three phases. Applicants who have been unsuccessful will remain in the draw for the remaining phases. The next draw will be on 1 July for places in August. 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. Notes to editors1. Taking part Applications can be made at www.oneandother.co.uk, or through the post by sending 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. Altogether 2,400 participants will be chosen at random by computer algorithm. There is no audition process. There are only four criteria – participants must be age 16 and must live, or be staying in, the UK, 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: 207 participants from Scotland, 67 from Wales, 71 from Northern Ireland, 227 from the East of England, 103 from the North East of England, 227 from the North West of England, 334 from the South East of England, 207 from the South West of England, 217 from the West Midlands, 208 from Yorkshire and the Humber, 178 from the East Midlands and 304 from London. Places for the plinth will be allocated in a further three phases: 1 July - places allocated for August. 1 August - places allocated for September. 1 September - places allocated for October. Each participant will spend exactly sixty minutes alone on the plinth. Volunteers may take equipment or props with them, provided they can carry them themselves. The plinth will be accessible to those with disabilities, including wheelchair users. Participants must agree to abide by the Terms and Conditions detailed on the website and in the application pack, and will need to prove their address when they take their place. 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. 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. Fourth Plinth Commissioning Group members 4. Sky Arts: On screen, online, on stage 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. 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 four 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 Sky Arts 1 HD and Sky Arts 2 HD offering the best programmes in glorious high definition 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: Broadcast partner of the Hay Festival (where Mariella Frostrup broadcasts from every day of the festival with The Book Show); Season sponsor at English National Opera 2003 - 2009 (10 new productions this season, including the Sky Focus, L’amour de loin). National Tour sponsor of English National Ballet (this season saw the ENB bring Manon to the stage for the first time in its history). 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. |