People making an exhibition of themselves

One of my very favourite things at the moment has to be artist Antony Gormley's "living monument" on the (previously) empty Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square. Basically, in case you've not heard about it, what happens is: every hour, twenty-four hours a day, for a hundred days without a break, a different person occupies the plinth and does whatever takes their fancy during their sixty minutes on the perch (27713 people applied for the 2400 available places). It is utterly brilliant, sort of like Big Brother, only without the hysteria and ratcheted-up tension.

And as if that wasn't enough on its own, you can also dip into the coverage of the action whenever you like as there's a free live webstream of the action here which will, presumably, be up throughout the hundred days (or eighty-seven remaining days as it is now).

I've only been dipping in and out for a day or so now but personal highlights so far include the middle-aged woman who took a pile of ironing with her and spent her hour making her way through it (between you and me, though, I don't think the iron was plugged in). There was also an especially paranoid conspiracy theorist who, in the ten minutes or so I watched him, managed to claim that the USA actually hanged one of Saddam's lookylikeys rather than the erstwhile Iraqi dictator himself (who apparently remains at large. Who knew?!), and also that the real power behind the various regimes in the White House over the years have, in fact, been.... the Presidents' dogs. Absolutely barking.

The last time I looked Margie from the south west was due for her stint on the plinth. She says on her profile page that she's "not sure what I'll be doing yet". Oh dear. I hope Margie doesn't spread herself too thin.

A House - Endless Art mp3