London Offers Outdoor Art All Summer Long

London has long been considered a superb location in which to enjoy a cornucopia of art and culture, generously displayed in a large number of museums and art galleries dotted throughout the city. England's capital is also garnering worldwide attention as a city in which contemporary art is regularly displayed and performed on its streets throughout the summer months.

Take the 'four day celebration of art, dance, music, poetry, film and storytelling' that took place on the Strand, close to London's West End during the penultimate week of July. The courtyard outside Somerset House - including the marvellous fountains spouting from the floor - became a stage for many diverse performers to express themselves, much to the delight of those watching.

However, the Somerset House performances lasted only four days, unlike the unique art project running in Trafalgar Square between 6 July and 14 October. Sculptor Antony Gormley has created a unique piece of contemporary art in the form of a living monument. The Square's empty fourth plinth is to be occupied by a different British resident every hour, for 24 hours a day over a period of exactly 100 days.

Trafalgar Square contains four such large plinths, one located at each of its corners. Three are permanently occupied by statues of George IV, Henry Havelock and Sir Charles Napier, but the plinth on the north-west corner was vacant for 159 years following its construction in 1841. Originally intended for an equestrian statue the plinth remained empty until 1999, when it became used for a contemporary work of art.

Since then it has been the venue for additional specially commissioned pieces of contemporary art, all agreed under the auspices of the Fourth Plinth Commissioning Group and Gormley's latest work involves more than 2400 people each taking one hour on the plinth.

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