Cosmopolite: The work of Matt Tucker

[This article originally appeared on Antony Gormley's One & Other website, click here to view.]

Plinthers: you have been chosen! Excitement is spreading across the Internet; feverish blogging and happy Twittering has revealed some of the 615 men and women who will be standing in Trafalgar Square this July. But there are still 1,785 places up for grabs - it could be you.... With the final go-ahead from Westminster City Council last week, Antony Gormley's One & Other is taking shape and looks set to make this summer that extra bit special. Love it or hate it, it will get you talking!

For many Plinthers a realisation is dawning on them: 'what am I actually going to do on the Plinth?!' But inspiration is becoming contagious as more and more people are stepping up with amazing ideas. My personal favourite so far is Jill Gatcum who is releasing a balloon every sixty seconds - each balloon will have a different charity donation request attached.

I want to bring you an insight from someone who knows all about performing a 'one-man' show. When on holiday in New York last month, I saw a piece of Theatre that struck me as striking, unique and remarkably relevant to the task ahead for selected Plinthers.

Peter Neofotis (right) brings the ancient art of oral story telling into the 21st century with his solo shows. His performances are all his own words; short stories written about a fictional town called Concord in the American Southern State of Virginia. Narrating through an array of characters, Neofotis tells their tales from history, covering the end of the nineteenth century to the 1970's. Stories include that of a hunter who, after accidentally killing his wife, finds hundreds of vultures in his yard, and the tale of an albino woman who hears ghosts of America's past in the songs of birds.

Have you ever heard of a panegyric? I'll save you from reaching for the dictionary - the noun is an oration in praise of a person or thing. Peter Neofotis describes himself as such - a 'panegyrical performer', and it's not just the act of praise that he covers; there is a whole spectrum of emotions expressed on stage. Neofotis puts himself truly in the story; he feels it, he lives it, and he invites you, the audience, to be there with him in the moment. When I saw Neofotis perform at Dixon Place Theatre he became visibly caught up in the emotion of the tales, the plights of tragedy and joy, making me realise he means business when he is story telling. Straight from the opening line, you are there in the midst of an oration that will make you laugh, cry and then hold your breath as you await the finale. Here's Peter in action:

Many of Peter's tales can be read in his debut book, Concord, Virginia: A Southern Town in Eleven Stories, published next month with St. Martin's Press in the US.

Peter's work suits the One & Other experience. With no props on the confined space of the stage, he is his own Art. Like the audience that stare up at his one-man show: Londoners, tourists and webcam viewers will stare up at Plinthers.

I caught up with Peter to ask a few questions about his craft and his thoughts on One & Other - here's what he had to say:

Tell us how you became a panegyrical performer
When I was in my early teens, I would memorise large sections of classical dramas. My older sisters would then have these large keg parties with all their friends and have me perform for the crowd. My first routine was of the War of the Worlds.

What do you feel defines your style as a unique performer?
Even though I am doing a one-man show, the stories I tell are fictional tales inspired and about other people, archetypes that the audience can relate to as much as I can. Also, I am performing memorised prose to be published in the written form.

Do you seek any form of connection with your audience?
Absolutely. I am not telling the story to the audience as much as we are reliving the experience together.

What do you hope your audience will take away from one of your performances?
I hope my audience will feel empowered to ask questions about the human experience. How do we overcome our painful past while not falling into the sterilised eeriness of modernity? Can we see the failure of most organised religions while still holding onto life's mystical forces?

Do you think the desire to be artistically expressive is part of the human psyche, or something that only drives Artists?
I think it's part of everyone. People need to connect with others in a highly emotional way that is not sexual. Hunter-gathering man had this outlet through the campfire dance. People could scream and yell and chant all night long in a way that was fluid and open to communication between the performer and the audience. Some of the best stories I've read are expressions of pain by ordinary people who are crying from the wound of not being able to have an outlet for artistic expression. I think we need to be more open to fostering the artists in the whole human psyche, and I think the Plinth is a good step.

Antony Gormley is appealing to the public to represent humanity, do you think humanity is going to look good?
Susan Boyle recently showed that brilliance can shine from the most unlikely places - as long as we give it a chance.

Susan Boyle could be an applicant! What advice would you give Plinthers who are preparing to go up in front of the public?
Congratulations on taking a risk and putting yourself out there. It is the first step. Remember that it will be best if you go at with your all and have faith and comfort. Allow the art to speak from your bones.

Do you think there would be an appetite for a One & Other Plinth in the US?
Absolutely.

And if you had a place on the plinth, what would you do?
A story of mine called The Builders, a Prometheus Bound fable recast on Virginia's Natural Bridge. It is a dramatic reckoning between an albino woman,  chained black man, and the ghost of Thomas Jefferson - all on the edge of a precipice. Do you think we could arrange lighting too?

You would be welcome to bring your own lights. So are you going to be watching Plinthers on the webcam? And do you think we're going to get any shocking surprises?
Yes, I will watch. And yes, there will be some surprises. Someone totally unassuming will do something truly extraordinary.

Thanks Peter - I hope "truly extraordinary" is going to describe the sight of anyone standing up high on the Fourth Plinth!

Plinther Charles Hunt left a comment on the website here to let us all know he would be doing a costumed reading of Charles Dickens, and seeing as he appears to be a professional Voice Artist, we're in for a treat of a panegyrical nature!

Of course, Literature is no stranger to the art of monologues. The ones that stick in my mind are the witty and scheming soliloquies of Shakespeare's Richard III, as he bends down to the audience mid-conversation, delivering a line or two about the Machiavellian plot to unfold. Perhaps there is a Richard III Plinther out there? Any takers?

I want to leave you now with a question for Plinthers and potential Plinthers: will you be trying to engage your audience? You have an advantage over a statue of bronze or stone; you can interact! Will you be smiling, waving, pleading, lecturing, berating, or educating your audience? - Or any other verbs you care to think of?!

I’m excited about being a guest blogger for Antony Gormley’s One & Other Art project: the living monument of Trafalgar Square. Art critic Brian Sewell better watch out, he has competition ;) - take a look here.

I’ll be providing commentary and opinion throughout the project, alongside my fellow guest bloggers: Vincent, Jane and Hugo.

For those of you who don’t know: every hour, 24 hours a day, for 100 days without a break, a different person will make the Fourth Plinth their own. Once selected, the individual can use their time on the plinth as they like. One & Other is open to anyone and everyone from any corner of the UK.

I have the chance to express my voice of opinion on this historical Art venture - a great opportunity! Hopefully this wont be a hard task, there’s lots to say! I received some text this morning from a 'panegyrical performer' for my first blog post next Thursday. All will be revealed!

In the meantime, here are some facts I’ve searched out about One & Other :

Five facts about Antony Gormley

1. As a young man, Gormley travelled to India, returning to London three years later.
2. The Artist has used his own body as subject, tool and material.
3. One & Other isn’t his first large scale art installation; others include Allotment, Critical Mass, Another Place, Domain Field, and Inside Australia.
4. His most celebrated British sculptures include: Angel of the North and Quantum Cloud on the Thames in Greenwich.
5. Gormley’s Awards:  the Turner Prize in 1994, the South Bank Prize for Visual Art in 1999, Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1997, and in 2007 he was awarded the Bernhard Heiliger Award for Sculpture.

Five facts about Trafalgar Square and the Fourth Plinth

1. With its position in the heart of London, Trafalgar Square is a tourist attraction and one of the most famous Squares in the World.
2. The name commemorates the Battle of Trafalgar (1805), a British naval victory of the Napoleonic Wars.
3. The Fourth plinth is on the northeast corner of the Square and was designed by Sir Charles Barry and in 1841 -it was meant to hold a statue of William IV, but remained empty due to insufficient funds.
4. It was in 1999 that the Royal Society of Arts conceived the Fourth Plinth Project; art work from three contemporary artists temporarily occupying the plinth.
5. The famous pigeons of Trafalgar Square are considered a problem by some; the sale of bird seed in the square was ended in 2000!

Five facts about Artichoke (Producers of One & Other)

1. Artichoke is a creative company that puts on extraordinary shows that change the way people look at the world. They work with the best creative minds to produce events that live in the memory forever.
2. They are the people behind the staging of 'The Sultan’s Elephant’ in 2006.
3. Artichoke is producing a festival of light in Durham in November 2009, and in Cambridge in 2010. For further information about Illuminata.
4. Artichoke is delighted to announce that One & Other is the first event in a series produced over the next couple of years in partnership with Sky Arts.
5. Hardly anyone knows that a secret tunnel runs deep beneath the Atlantic Ocean. In May 2008, more than a century after it was begun, the tunnel was finally completed. An extraordinary optical device called a Telectroscope was installed at both ends which miraculously allowed people to see right through the Earth from London to New York and vice versa. Artichoke helped this vision come to life last year!

Five facts about Sky Arts (Sponsors of One & Other)

1. From Monday 20 October, Sky Arts 1, Sky Arts 2, Sky Arts 1 HD and Sky Arts 2 HD will broadcast 36 hours of combined arts programming every day into millions of homes in the UK and Ireland.
2. Sky Arts 1 serves up contemporary programming, such as live rock concerts, documentaries and the celebrity ‘hijack’ series.
3. Sky Arts 2 is the home of Sky Arts’ more classical art content, fantastic new shows to look out for include a four part series called The Forgotten Painter – Edward Seago presented by Selina Scott; a new series of spectacular HD Metropolitan Operas including performances of Romeo & Juliet , Macbeth , Tristan & Isolde , La Fille du Regiment , Peter Grimes , La Boheme , Hansel & Gretel and Manon Lescaut.
4. The Sky Arts Artichoke Season is an ongoing partnership between Sky Arts and creative producers Artichoke.
5. You can follow Sky Arts on Twitter: @SkyArts.

Earlier in the year I featured a new song from Natasha Khan's Bat for Lashes here on Cosmopolite - a great musical discovery for me. Now I've come across 'Florence & the machine', who is starting to make it very big, I've already heard her a few times on BBC Radio 1.

The song 'Rabbit Heart (Raise it up)' from her debut album is very catchy, something you can play over and over. With the haunting vocals of Florence Welch, and a music video that looks like Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', this deserves to be a hit. Enjoy.

After a false start with Terminator 3, filmmakers are once again having a crack at the story of John Connor; the man fated to lead the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators. Set in the close future of 2018, Terminator Salvation follows the final showdown between mankind and killer machines. A stranger appears; a man whose last memories are of being on death row. John Connor must decide whether the man is sent to annihilate mankind or fight alongside the human resistance.

This latest instalment of the Terminator saga is bold and ambitious. Where Terminator 3 disappointed with strained dialogue and unoriginal plot twists, Terminator Salvation gives a different experience. The action sequences are spontaneous, spectacular and unrelenting, but can make you dizzy as your eye has to catch up with sequences spliced together disjointedly. However, you certainly wont be disappointed in its pace, scale of explosions, battles and fast speed chases.

Christian Bale fills the shoes of John Connor well. Watching him lose his temper on screen makes you realise you don't want to get on the wrong side of Bale; an actor who appears intimidating both in and out of character. You may have heard about Bale’s much publicised outburst on the set of this Terminator film; finding the stream of obscenities on YouTube isn't hard. If you haven’t, watch it here (WARNING - contains a lot of swearing). Bale’s apology on the incident included the claim that he was ‘in character’ at the time. That's method acting for you! Bale’s performance is strong and compelling, but at times a little overstated; being Batman may have gone to his head. When you hear the unnaturally husky Batman voice come out of John Connor’s mouth, you want to pass him a packet of cough sweets. But if you liked Bale in Batman then you’ll like him in Terminator Salvation.

Would a Terminator film be authentic if it didn’t include the Governor of California, Mr Terminator himself? Many of us grew up with the familiar sight of Arnold Schwarzenegger playing the killer robot from the future; the bad guy in the first Terminator film and the good guy in the second. Fortunately, Arnie does make a return, and he looks surprisingly well for a man in his 60’s - too well. An incredibly convincing CGI figure seems to have taken his place. The performance is almost indistinguishable from the man in the flesh, or should I say metal.

Terminator Salvation pays respectful homage to the first two Terminator films of the 80’s and 90’s. Repeated classic lines like “come with me if you want to live” and “I’ll be back” are real fan pleasers. The terrifying image of the polished steel Terminator skull and bulky frame from the original film is fully exploited in striking cinematography.

There are nods of acknowledgement to other classic action films throughout: Terminators resembling Transformers, a Mad Max-ian society in chaos, a terrifying similarity to the invasion of the War of the Worlds, and a touch of Shelley’s Frankenstein in the character of Marcus Wright. All the references make an enjoyable tale of science fiction horror.

The film does the Terminator saga proud as a fitting continuation, providing new characters and new concepts, nicely setting the scene for future films.

If you like the Terminator films - this is a must-see. And if you haven’t seen any Terminator films then go watch Terminator Salvation – you don’t know what you’re missing!

I have some blogging news: I’ve been made a website Co-Editor of London magazine The Other Side; the free magazine that offers a witty, insightful look into what's going on in the UK capital. I’ll be contributing to the ‘Going Out’ and ‘Film’ blogs of the website. Editor Sam Lassman has got big plans for the magazine, take a look at his Guardian interview.

Also, I have some more blogging news, which I’ll be posting about very soon….