My whole life has been about art - making it, studying it, researching it, preserving it. Working as part of a Curatorial team - how could I resist the chance to BE art, and a small part of a historic event?
For my hour I'm going to riff on the theme of Trafalgar Square's pigeons. There's so few of them now, I thought that I might bring birds back to the square. But in the form of Origami Peace Cranes - not the sort who poop on the national monuments. Hopefully the idea of creating an emblem of Peace and Unity ties in with the whole aim of this art work - the representation of Humanity - afterall the word not only means Humankind, but the quality of being Humane.
Then again - I might just relax and enjoy the view - I'm not going to get another chance.
Antony Gormley's "artistic experiment" means a lot to me, beacuse it proves what I've always thought - that Contemporary Art can be exciting, interesting, innovative and still make a connection with people who might think that they don't know anything about art or aren't interested in it.
It's really important to me that this country's museums, art galleries, and heritage intitutions are made available to all - that their doors are opened, and that they are not elitist institutions set aside for the enjoyment of a select few. Antony Gormley's concept of asking the people of the UK to occupy the empty Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square - a space normally reserved for statues of Kings and Generals, is a truely egalitarian one. I'm excited to be one of those redressing the balance of power and proving that Britain's National Art collections are for us all and about us all.
