Flying the Flag for India – and Drilcorp!

Monday, 28 September 2009 13:49

Aansan George, Project Manger at Drilcorp recently took part in renowned artist Antony Gormley’s ‘One and Other’ installation at Trafalgar Square, London.

This artistic experiment gave 2400 people a chance to occupy the empty fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square in London, a space normally reserved for statues of Kings and Generals, to become an image of himself, and a representation of humanity.

British Artist Gormley, whose renowned iconic works include the Angel of the North, was chosen to create the temporary artwork by the Mayor of London’s Fourth Plinth Commissioning Group.

Every hour, 24 hours a day for 100 days from July 6th to October 15th, without a break, a different person has been making the fourth plinth their own.

Aansan, the 1380th person to take the Plinth, began his 60 minute stint at midnight on Monday 31st August 2009.

The idea of the fourth plinth is very simple. Through putting a person onto the plinth, the body becomes a metaphor, a symbol. In the context of Trafalgar Square with its military, valedictory and male historical statues, this elevation of everyday life to the position formally occupied by monumental art allows us to reflect on the diversity, vulnerability and particularly the individual in contemporary society. It’s about people coming together to do something extraordinary and unpredictable.

Aansan’s journey was aptly named ‘This is Britain, but this is I’. He mounted the plinth at midnight on the eerily quiet Bank Holiday Monday with nothing more than what seemed a pair of Drilcorp overalls, a laptop and a bottle of water.

As the minutes ticked by, Aansan cranked up the music and started peeling away the layers of his life, along with his layers of clothes revealing The Worker, Manager, Middle level executive, Clubber, DJ, Exotic Dancer, Indian Hip Hop, Rebellious Indian, Patriotic Indian, and Traditional Malayalee (South Indian). The few late night onlookers soon grew and the crowd cheered with delight as Aansan went in to full flow of his dance rendition of Michael Jacksons Billy Jean, and a quite controversial pole dance to the Pussy Cat Dolls ‘Don’t Ya’.

Descending from the plinth by crane after a 60 minute all-action, show-stopping extravaganza with multiple costume changes, Aansan said of his experience:-

“To date my greatest achievement I would say is waving the Indian Flag the highest in Trafalgar Square. To me, I knew whatever I did on the plinth, had to be true to me. The concept of "This is Britain, but this is I", is all about that. It was about revealing the different persona that makes an individual. If one was asked to describe themselves, one would always struggle to fit that in three words. Or even one hour, as I learnt, but I tried, and I had fun! I love to entertain people. To make a person truly smile is the hardest thing to accomplish. I would like to think that after my stint on the plinth, at 1am on a warm September day, I did just that. The comments from family and friends tell me my mission was accomplished”

Click the link below to view Aansan on the Plinth.
http://www.oneandother.co.uk/participants/neopsycho