The 4th Plinth

It's taken five weeks, but finally, one of the fourth plinth-dwellers in Trafalgar Square has done what any self-respecting exhibitionist and stripped down to the buff.

The man, identified only as 'Simon M', got his kit off and exposed his Nelson's Column to the gawping masses at 4am on Wednesday morning.

After about five minutes of posing in his birthday suit, killjoy cops arrived and gave him a stiff warning to put his underwear back on, much to the chagrin of the cheering crowds.

On his One & Other website profile, Simon says he had always wanted to be a sculpture, and noted that he was recently going through a difficult separation. What better way to show your ex-significant other what they'll be missing than by throwing naked shapes while on display in Trafalgar Square?

IA complaint has been lodged after a man stood naked on a Trafalgar Square plinth as part of the ongoing One and Other art installation.

Justin Holwell stripped and posed naked on the fourth plinth during his one-hour slot from 1400 BST on Sunday.

Ex-detective Mark Williams-Thomas said his wife and children were annoyed and upset. He complained to police but Holwell was not taken off the plinth. A police spokesman said it was not a crime to appear naked in public.

Artist Antony Gormley's One and Other project enables public volunteers to stand on the central London square's fourth plinth for one hour at a time. They are allowed to do anything during that time, as long as it is not illegal.

Holwell said he confirmed with event producer Artichoke that he would be permitted to undress while on the plinth. Afterwards he said: I was chatting to my mates about it; they see me as a bit of an exhibitionist, this seemed the natural way to go.

But Williams-Thomas, a former Surrey Police detective constable, said his three children, aged between eight and 13 years old, were very shocked and embarrassed by Holwell's nudity. This was a public place and therefore I should be able to take my children without the fear of them having a man naked exposing himself

Williams-Thomas complained to the Metropolitan Police but said: "I fully expected that the surrounding police or organisers would stop this man. To my total surprise they stood by and did nothing."

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: We can confirm officers have received a complaint with regard to an exhibition on the fourth plinth on Sunday 30 August.

Update: Chicken

7th September 2009. See article from news.bbc.co.uk

A naked man has thrown himself off the fourth plinth in London's Trafalgar Square.

The man had earlier thrown down a pair of inflatable sex dolls before stripping and hurling himself into the safety net which surrounds the plinth.

He also took a live chicken on to the plinth which had to be rescued by security staff after the man, who called himself Gunter, ran away.

A spokesman for the project said both the chicken and the man were unhurt.