One & Other came to a close last week, after 100 days and nights. 2,400 people from the Shetland Islands to Penzance to take part in 2,400 individual hours, which created a portrait of a nation of eccentrics and performers, exhibitionists and mediators, artists and campaigners. The world was riveted: there were over 7,500,000 hits on the website, thousands of tweets and blog posts, hundreds of newspaper articles and tv broadcast.
I walked around the Frieze Art Fair with Antony Gormley the day the project ended and got a few snippets of views from him. He was a bit exhausted and embarrassed at the media attention given to him, rather than the actual focus on the project’s triumphant finish. He felt satisfied that it was a success but was a bit disappointed at not being chosen by the computer to stand on the platform for an hour himself. Like so many of the public (yours truly included)
we were sent this message:
We have now picked the winners of places in October and we are sorry to tell you that you have not been picked on this occasion. 321 individuals from all over the UK have been picked at random from all those who entered, and each has been allocated a place on the plinth during the month.
. Next year there will be a book, no less monumental than the project itself. And every hour can still be viewed.
Well at least we know the selection process was fair.
PCR October 2009