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Martin Creed has been shortlisted to create an Olympic-themed work of art with his plan to mark the start of the Games with a mass bell-ringing session.
The "Big Ring" would involve thousands of Londoners and feature a new Olympic bell made in the Whitechapel foundry which produced Big Ben.
Creed's idea is among five proposals shortlisted for a £500,000 prize to create a 2012-themed artwork for the capital.
The Arts Council-funded £5.4million Artists Taking The Lead contest will choose a work for nine British regions.
Creed won the Turner Prize in 2001 for The Lights Going On and Off, an empty gallery with a pair of flashing lights.
Anglo-Indian musician and composer Nitin Sawhney proposes to record famous musicians playing in their bedrooms and combine the recordings with a live open-air performance.
Theatrical director Simon Elliott and furniture designer Auro Foxcroft propose to project interpretations of athletes onto landmark London buildings.
Other proposals include converting the tops of bus shelters into electronic panels to tell stories and setting up pop-up theatres on 12 London Underground carriages.
The London contenders will present their ideas to a panel next month before the final decision in October. Lord Coe, chairman of the 2012 organising committee, said: "I'm thrilled with the calibre of this shortlist. We want the Cultural Olympiad to bring art and sport together."
Reader views (3)
No, Bob. However, if you can stand your child on a chair so that he/she can reach the light switch and flick it on and off....
- Somebody, Somewhere, 15/08/2009 16:57
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Just to say that a) I'm not Anglo- Indian. My parents are both Indian though I was born here and b) my idea is nothing to do with "famous" musicians, it is about international orchestral musicians being filmed in bedrooms and then performing as projections with a live British orchestra and freerunners.
Cheers
Nitin Sawhney
- Nitin Sawhney, London, england, 15/08/2009 06:28
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I've got a 5 year old to draw a garish 80's style fluorescent 2012 logo, can I have some money for it?
- Bob, Cheam, 14/08/2009 11:57
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