Six sculptures in running for Trafalgar Square

A giant Battenberg cake made of bricks and an outsize blue cockerel were revealed today to be among the works battling to take their place in Trafalgar Square.

Six works are in the running to win a position at what has now become one of Britain's most famous art displays on the London square's fourth plinth.

Also competing for the honour is a church-style pipe organ which would blast sounds across the square each time someone used an attached cashpoint.

The proposals by the six artists were unveiled today and the winner will replace the current work - Yinka Shonibare's large-scale Nelson's Ship In A Bottle.

Other notable artworks which have featured on the empty plinth have included Antony Gormley's One & Other last year, which saw 2,400 people taking the space for an hour to do what they wanted, with some standing naked.

Models created by the hopeful artists of their designs are being displayed until the end of October at St-Martin-in-the-Fields church from today.

The works include Allora & Calzadilla's Untitled which is a working cashpoint to be embedded in the plinth which triggers organ pipes placed on the exhibition space above.

Brian Griffiths has designed an enormous Battenberg, the pink and yellow cake created to commemorate Queen Victoria's granddaughter Princess Victoria marrying Prince Louis of Battenberg in 1884. It will be made from vintage and contemporary hand-made bricks.

Katharina Fritsch has proposed her work Hahn/Cock for the spot - a sculpture of a cockerel painted ultramarine blue, designed to symbolise regeneration, awakening and strength.

The others are:

* Powerless Structures, Fig.101, by Elmgreen & Dragset - a brass sculpture riding a rocking horse, designed to question the tradition of war monuments, a number of which feature in the square, including Nelson's Column;

* Sikandar, by Hew Locke - a replica of the equestrian statue of Field Marshal Sir George White which sits in Portland Place, which has been decorated with horse-brasses, charms, medals and other treasures;

* It's Never Too Late And You Can't Go Back, by Mariele Neudecker - a sculpted mountainscape on a base shaped like the outline of England, Scotland and Wales.

The selected artist will be announced by mayor of London Boris Johnson early next year.

He said: "The Fourth Plinth has become the most eagerly anticipated art commission in the country and these latest proposals show why.

"Each of the artists has come up with a very different vision, their wit and originality offering a highly individual response to the historic backdrop of Trafalgar Square and the fact that one of the sculptures will be installed in 2012, only adds to the excitement."

Ekow Eshun, who chairs the Fourth Plinth Commissioning Group, said: "All good art stimulates debate. We hope that the public will enjoy the exhibition and will share their thoughts with us."