'Living statue' art gets go-ahead

Participants in the project will be selected at random

More than 2,400 members of the public will soon stand on Trafalgar Square's fourth plinth after a council gave the go-ahead for a 100-day art project.

People will stand on the central London plinth for one hour each from 6 July in artist Antony Gormley's project.

Westminster Council granted planning permission for his One and Other project on Thursday.

Volunteers, who will be selected at random, will be able to do anything on the plinth that is legal.

'Extraordinary and unpredictable'

Mr Gormley, who also designed the Angel of the North sculpture in Gateshead, said the project was "about people coming together to do something extraordinary and unpredictable".

"It could be tragic but it could also be funny," he said.

A temporary film studio in the square will broadcast the event to a TV channel and website.

On Thursday Westminster councillor Robert Davis said: "I think most people would have reservations about this type of installation but the debate on its artistic merits is for others to have."

Last month a selection of candidates practised their routines in Trafalgar Square.

Applications will continue to be accepted after the project begins, until 1 September.

The square's fourth plinth is reserved for modern art and previously displayed Marc Quinn's Alison Lapper Pregnant and Thomas Schutte's Model For A Hotel.