HOWZAT

So far, the chosen works have not failed to be controversial. Rachel Whiteread’s clear-resin inverted copy of the empty plinth was ridiculed as an empty fishtank and Thomas Schütte’s Model for a Hotel was derided as a giant CD rack.

Gormley is no stranger to controversy. Two years ago he built a snowman in the Arctic with funding from the British taxpayer.

Commenting on his latest work in contemporary artspeak, he said: “Through elevation on to the plinth and removal from common ground, the body becomes a metaphor, a symbol and allows us to reflect on the diversity, vulnerability and particularity of the individual in contemporary society.” He wants people to feel free to do anything they want while posing. Only those caught inciting violence or endangering life will be hauled off.

Gormley suggested that the key to the work would be attracting a varied array of people to take part. "The asylum-seeker, the person who is homeless, people who don't naturally think of this as being their kind of thing. We need the bodybuilder but we also need the paraplegic, the naturist, the Shakespearean actor," he said.

Times Archive, 1968: Churchill Memorial

A standing figure of Sir Winston would certainly possess sufficient bulk to occupy an oblong plinth

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The artist proposed that Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, who announced the winners today, would be a excellent choice of candidate to stand on the plinth.

“The idea of Boris not having anything to say and simply standing there and actually looking at the city that he’s come to be the mayor of might be a very nice thing,” Gormley said.

Mr Johnson said it would be an honour for him to stand on the plinth but said he thought his chances of being “lucky enough” to be selected were very small.

“It was obviously a tough decision - all of the short-listed proposals had their own merits,” the Mayor said.

“But I am very excited about the prospect of real people standing on the plinth in one of the great public squares of the world and I think it is an incredible idea to have a modern depiction of Nelson’s boat that will be gazed upon by a statue of the great Admiral himself.”

A feasibility study on how people would be removed and how a safety net would protect them from injury will now be conducted.

Gormley was one of two artists - the other Yinka Shonibare - picked today from a shortlist of six, including Jeremy Deller, Tracey Emin, Anish Kapoor and Bob & Roberta Smith.

The selection was made by a panel chaired by Ekow Eshun, Artistic Director of the Institute of Contemporary Art in London.

He said: “Gormley and Shonibare . . . have created bold, arresting works that, in quite different ways, reflect on the multifaceted nature of modern Britain.” When models of the six proposals were unveiled at the National Gallery in January, visitors had their say online. Opinions were divided. While one person dismissed all six as “meaningless”, Gormley seemed to capture the public’s imagination. One visitor wrote: “The chance for the public to be part of a piece of art is fabulous – we are ready to book a space.”

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