A RENOWNED blot on the landscape is to become one of the UK's most spectacular pieces of public art when its facade is made to revolve.
In an amazing feat of structural engineering Richard Wilson will cut out an egg-shaped, or ovoid, section from the former Yates's Wine Lodge in Moorfields then install pivots usually used in nuclear power stations to make it spin round.
Turning the Place Over is the artist's most radical project and is expected to run from May next year through to 2008.
He said: "I'm proposing to turn a section of the facade. An ovoid section will be cut and mounted on to a spindle, which sits on rollers.
"They turn round the wall in such a way that it spins like a coin on a table.
"The building has six floors and we are taking a section out of the second and third floors.
"It will create a sense of disorientation. 2008 is all about reinterpreting the city and revamping the city.
"Taking something that has been written off and discarded and reinventing it flags up what is happening across Liverpool.
"It is about making things exciting again. It is also a doffing of the cap to all those who have worked on major engineering projects that Merseyside became known for.
"The piece will run for as long as we have the building."
Wilson has exhibited widely nationally and internationally for the past 20 years to critical and popular acclaim, particularly for his seminal installation 20:50, a sea of reflective sump oil which is permanently installed in the Saatchi Collection.
