Mere Mortals? Gormley's 'One and Other' Puts Regular People on a Pedestal

LONDON, July 7, 2009 — -- Fifteen minutes into his hour of fame, a skinny man in a panda costume hopped from one foot to the other atop the empty fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square.

Every couple of seconds he held up a 6-foot tall sign with a series of numbers written on it and then in the next instant, drew his cell phone to his ear and resumed chatting. One can surmise that Suren Seneviratne wanted people in the crowd to dial his mobile. Getting through to him was impossible, believe me, I tried. I can only imagine how this disc jockey's phone bill will look at the end of the month.

This public display of strangeness was part of the newest installment by British artist Antony Gormley. The exhibit, called One and Other, is meant to be part performance art, part experiment in human nature. It's an absurd little show taking place on one of the most visible spots in one of the most celebrated squares in London.

Each hour for 24-hours per day for 100 days, a different person will be hoisted up to the empty plinth by an industrial lift. That person can do whatever it is they want in the space (within legal limits) be it drawing, dancing, knitting - or even getting naked (as public nudity is legal in Britain and even encouraged by Gormley).

In order to take part, people were selected from their applications submitted to the One and Other Web site. So far, over 20,000 applications have been submitted although there are only 2,400 spots in the exhibition with the month of September and October yet to be filled.

Trafalgar Square has traditionally been a place where people congregate and hold protests, rallies and events among grand statues, fountains and staircases. The square was built in the 1800s and features a central column and statue honoring Admiral Lord Nelson, who died from his wounds in the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

Nelson led the British Royal Navy to victory in the decisive battle against the combined French and Spanish navies, thereby confirming the British naval supremacy.

Bronze statues of British generals and sovereigns including General Sir Charles James Napier, Major General Sir Henry Havelock and King George IV stand stoically on three of the four plinths in the corners of the square.

The fourth plinth remained empty for many years until in 2005 the Mayor of London's Fourth Plinth Commissioning Group initiated a new string of artworks to be placed atop the plinth on a rotating basis.

Gormley then bid for and won the spot. Gormley said on the Fourth Plinth Web site that he wanted to create something that not only engages the public, but actually uses the public as a medium.