Turning Point

Bronze Public Sculpture commissioned by the Belfast Development Office and the Department for the Environment N.I., sited in St. Anne's Sq., BelfastThis large bronze globe is two meters in diameter and is surrounded by four negative life-casts. Its location on the edge of circular steps was designed to create a sense of insecurity as the figures were positioned to appear to either support or destabilise the sphere, and it is up to the viewer to decide which. Members of the public can look inside the globe through the eyeholes of each of the figures. On the inside the positive aspect of the figures can be viewed, surrounded by a celestial star map of the northern hemisphere. This star map was created by drilling different sized holes out of the top half of the globe to form the constellations that make up our night sky. In this way the artwork has two realities the outer reality that we all can see, and an inner reality, which must be found!As the axis of the globe has been designed to point to the North Star, it is in fact a sundial, although not specifically marked out as one. There are however twenty-four longitudinal lines spanning the globe from pole to pole and the sun passes over one of these each and every hour. The work was removed from the St. Anne’s Sq. site during redevelopment process some ten years ago. Due to a lack of care at that time it was damaged and has yet to be re-furbished and re-sited. Negotiations are ongoing with Armagh City and it is hoped that the work will be refurbished and located permanently there in the future.The artwork was commissioned as part of the refurbishment of the St. Anne’s area and was funded by the Belfast Development Office and the Department of the Environment through an open tender competition process.