What a shame but it had a good run.
Turning the Place Over is Now Closed
Richard Wilson’s stunning Turning the Place Over at Moorfields, Liverpool has now closed after more than three and a half years of operation. It has turned during daylight hours, with the occasional break for maintenance, since May 2007 and has been seen by an estimated three and a half million people.
The temporary artwork was conceived as a trailblazer for Liverpool’s year as European Capital of Culture and originally expected to be exhibited only into 2008. It has proved enduringly popular with visitors and local people alike, often causing passers-by to gasp in amazement or reach for their cameras. It was a star of YouTube even before it was launched and the more than 100 videos of Turning the Place Over on the site have received hundreds of thousands of viewings with one attracting over half a million views alone.
It was possible to extend the life of the iconic attraction beyond the planned exhibtion period thanks, in particular, to the support of project mechanical engineers, Bode Positioners Ltd, Lindhurst Engineering, as well as Liverpool City Council.
The former Yates’s Wine Lodge building and site will now be permanently protected against the elements and be available for any future commercial development.
Richard Wilson commented, “Find one empty property, tweak it with a clever idea, enlist a great team of makers and shakers to create a sculptural formula that attracted people’s attention from all over the world. It has been a privilege to have placed in Liverpool such an acclaimed artwork that in part doffed a cap to this city’s engineering heritage”.
Liverpool Biennial Director of Public Art, Laurie Peake added, “It has been wonderful to keep the work turning for an extra two years and I hope that those who saw it will remember this audacious feat of imagination and engineering for years to come.”
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