Saturday, August 08, 2009

Postcards on a Google Map

One & Other

The four corners of Trafalgar Square, London, each have a plinth. Three of the plinths hold statues. The fourth plinth has been empty since it was built in 1841. With customary decisiveness it has taken the British 168 years to decide which statue should be placed on the plinth. So far a final decision has still to be reached.

In 1999, the Royal Society of Arts conceived of the Fourth Plinth Project, which commissions contemporary artists to produce works to temporarily occupy the plinth. This summer sculptor Antony Gormley was given the commission for occupying the plinth. Gormley's work 'One & Other' involves a succession of volunteers occupying the space on top of the plinth for one hour each.

Every hour, 24 hours a day, for 100 days without a break, a different person will stand, sit or lie on the plinth. The website for 'One & Other', as well as streaming a live webcam view of the plinth, also has an interesting Google Map mashup.

One & Other has a flash application that lets anyone create a 'postcard' of the plinth. The application lets you place any image you like on top of the plinth and then add your completed picture to a Google Map. The Google Map shows the completed postcards that have been geotagged by the creators.

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