Turning the Place Over

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The most daring piece of public art ever commissioned in the UK, Turning the Place Over is artist Richard Wilson’s most radical intervention into architecture to date, turning a building in Liverpool’s city centre literally inside out.

One of Wilson’s incredible temporary works, Turning the Place Over colonises Cross Keys House, Moorfields. It runs in daylight hours, triggered by a light sensor. Co-commissioned by the Liverpool Culture Company and Liverpool Biennial, co-funded by the Northwest Regional Development Agency and The Northern Way, and facilitated by Liverpool Vision, the project was conceived as a stunning trailblazer for Liverpool’s Year as European Capital of Culture 2008, and the jewel in the crown of the Culture Company’s public art programme.

Richard Wilson is one of Britain’s most renowned sculptors. He is internationally celebrated for his interventions in architectural space that draw heavily for their inspiration from the worlds of engineering and construction.

Turning the Place Over consists of an 8 metres diameter ovoid cut from the façade of a building in Liverpool city centre and made to oscillate in three dimensions. The revolving façade rests on a specially designed giant rotator, usually used in the shipping and nuclear industries, and acts as a huge opening and closing ‘window’, offering recurrent glimpses of the interior during its constant cycle during daylight hours.

The construction programme started in February 2007 and involved the careful deconstruction of the façade across three floors of the building, which was then reconstructed and fixed to the enormous pivot installed at the heart of the building. This astonishing feat of engineering is stunning audiences on many levels. Disturbing and disorientating from a distance, from close-up passers-by have a thrilling experience as the building rotates above them.

Wilson has exhibited widely nationally and internationally for the past twenty years and has made major museum exhibitions and public works throughout the world. Wilson has also represented Britain in the Sydney, Sao Paulo and Venice Bienniales and been nominated for the Turner Prize on two occasions. He was one of a select number of artists invited to create a major public work for The Millennium Dome and the only British artist invited to participate in Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial 2000, the largest contemporary art project ever staged in Japan.

Wilson’s past projects have generated both critical and popular acclaim. His seminal installation 20:50, a sea of reflective sump oil which is permanently installed in the Saatchi Collection, was described as ‘one of the masterpieces of the modern age’ by the art critic Andrew Graham Dixon in the BBC television series The History of British Art.

Click here to see the location of Turning the Place Over on Googlemaps.

Turning the Place Over has been commissioned by Liverpool Biennial and co-funded by the Liverpool Culture Company, Northwest Regional Development Agency, CityFocus and The Northern Way.

The Northern Way is investing £4.4million into the Welcome to the North programme as part of its Marketing the North to the World investment priority. A small number of iconic artworks will be positioned at key gateways as part of an innovative overall £10 million programme, which has been developed with Arts Council England, the three northern Cultural Consortia and other partners.The Northern Way is a unique collaboration led by the three Northern Regional Development Agencies (One NorthEast, Northwest Regional Development Agency and Yorkshire Forward) working with partners including Arts Council England to close the £30 billion output gap between the North and the average for England over a 25 year period.

Read in full...

"The sooner this eyesore gets torn down and this derelict piece of land blighting the area between the retail and commercial districts is dealt with the better, or perhaps any winos and druggies that hang around this no mans land are art too I suppose?"

bob, 14/09/2009
"Wow This is an amazing piece of work how do you manage well anyway this is amazing !!x"

helen, 15/09/2009
"Brilliant! Saw it for the first time last night and just had to find out more about it today. Just had me transfixed - so simple and yet so not. Love it!"

Claire, 25/09/2009
"As I came out of the station and caught my first view of Turning the plave over, a local couple noticed that I was looking at TTPO and remarked that they loved it. Then ,as we stood in the street looking at Richard Wilsons artwork passer by said that everyone liked it being there. So I disagree with Bob's negativity, it also seems his view is not typical (phew) "

Sandra, 07/11/2009
"Glad to hear it is still there."

Hazel, 13/11/2009
"That is so cool! my mate had stumbled across it one day when working in the 'pool, so she dragged 4 of us along to find it agin but didnt tell us what it was... we all came round the corner and went 'woah! how did they do that?' I love the way its so unexpected and messes with your idea of what the city should look like..."

another Hazel, 20/11/2009
"How long is this fascinating artwork due to stay with us - a long time, I hope?"

Ted Carless, 27/11/2009
"@ Ted Carless. Turning the Place Over is a temporary art work and was planned to be decommissioned at the end of 2008. All we need is the on-going permission to use the building and the necessary funds to maintain it. We hope it will be staying until the end of 2010, at least."

Antony Pickthall, 03/12/2009
"We were touring the area with an Australian exchange student and Sat Nav sent us past it whilst looking for the Cavern. My son yelled out and we all piled out of the car to video and photograph it, absolutely amazing, we stood there spellbound! Well done Liverpool it is unique......"

Chris Wood, 16/06/2010
"T.T.P.O. is unique , what a pity it is closed at the moment to visitors (health and safety inspection) I aways get a kick out of visitors reactions to this amazing sight. I enjoyed showing people around when it was open . Lets hope funding can be found . Perhaps this year for the Biennial ????"

Barbara Mcgrouther. Cultural Champion Liverpool East., 24/06/2010
"Bob's attitude is typical of the dispiriting philistine attitude to art in this country. TTPO is a great piece of art which asks people to look at things from a different perspective. What Bob also doesn't get is that so called wino's and druggies (I have never seen any in Moorefields by the way) are as entitled to hang around the city as anyone. There but for the grace of God go you and I, Bob."

Paul., 24/09/2009
"I am afraid that I don't believe "Bob". For a start he has spelling and punctuation, more or less, under control. Secondly the site editor hasn't removed his comment, which comes first. Finally his comment adds significantly to the nature of the work of art and our response to it. Come clean Richard Wilson: you are "Bob"!
By the way I stumbled on Turning the Place Over without any prior knowledge, which makes it even better. Thank you!"

Jon Holland, Grimsby, 21 July 2010, 22/07/2010
"Yep; winos, tramps, druggies, hookers, police-persons, street-sweepers, brick-layers, sailors, you, me... EVERYONE... we're ALL art ;-) Get a life Bob :-)"

Alan Corkish, 24/08/2010
"Maybe Bob is right. If the building is torn down then the space it takes up could provide a sufficiently sizable space for more shops to sell more stuff at a sufficiently sizable price. Richard Wilson should have considered this before wasting valuable space that could be of benefit to a large development consortium. "

I-Consu Me , 25/08/2010

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Turning the Place Over

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