Artistic Scots put on a pedestal

Published on Sunday 5 July 2009 22:12

AT MIDNIGHT this Thursday, Melrose solicitor William Windram will mount the fourth plinth on Trafalgar Square with a deckchair, a mug and a book, taking his place in art history.

Sculptor Antony Gormley's creation One & Other – for which 2,400 people have volunteered to appear for an hour each on the vacant plinth in Trafalgar Square – starts at 9am today and runs for 100 days. East Midlands housewife Rachel Wardell is the first in line, promising to represent everyday "stay-at-home" mums.

Several Scots are on the plinth this week. Mr Windram, a book collector, is creating a theme around vintage Penguin paperbacks. He will sit in his Penguin-design deckchair and probably read from the first Penguin, Andre Maurois's Ariel from 1935, Penguin mug in hand.

He said: "I think reading is very important, so it's partly about reading, and knowledge passing through books."

Trafalgar Square's fourth plinth was empty from 1841 until 1999, when a series of artists was commissioned to place temporary sculptures there.

Gormley, best known as the creator of The Angel of the North, proposed the One & Other idea of living art.

Engineer Paul Scofield, from Paisley, the first Scottish resident to take part, is planning to appear in a cow costume in his 7am slot tomorrow. He plans to mimic Nelson's Column.

"It gets people interacting with the square," he said. "I'm not trying to be an artist, I'm just doing something slightly different from my job."

Glasgow School of Art student Colette Rayner, from Fife, takes up her position at 6am on Wednesday. "I'm thinking about the rush-hour traffic; everyone is rushing around. I will go very slowly," she said.