Lookout: a new town clock
Ivison Lane, Workington town centre
Following the opening of Coast
Line, located between the Washington Central Hotel and
Debenhams, in April, the second major artwork to be installed in
Workington is the town clock, Lookout. The clock was officially
switched on by the Mayor of Allerdale on Saturday 1 July
2006.
Lookout is an interactive, mechanical clock designed by artist
Andy 
Plant. The
clock is situated on Ivison Lane, just off Pow Street, next to
the NatWest bank. The clock’s minute hand has a camera at the end
and rises into the air on the hour to give people a panoramic view
of the town via viewing windows on the spherical body of the
clock.
The design of the clock is based on a ‘camera obscura’ - a
darkened enclosure in which images of outside objects are projected
through a small aperture or lens onto a facing surface. The new
space also includes specially-designed seating made by Alan Dawson
Associates as well as the three-dimensional clock, a hollow steel
sphere 4.57 metres tall.
Chimes have been composed by Matt Wand to play on the hour and
on the half hour from the speakers built into the surrounding
seating. The recordings use voices from interviews with local
people set to music specially performed by Matt himself, Stainburn
Steel Band and Dearham Brass Band.
The art projects are all part of a £2.74m programme of improvements
to the
appearance of Workington town centre, funded by the Northwest
Regional Development Agency.
Follow either of the links below to see how the clock will
work:
Windows
Media Player High Resolution (for Broadband users)
Windows
Media Player Low Resolution (for Dial Up users)
Listen to sounds from the clock; From the
Sea, Ordinary,
Foggy
and A66.
To learn more about Andy Plant’s work, visit his website at
http://www.andyplant.co.uk/
What do you think about the clock? Join the debate at the
Times
& Star online forum.
Listen to artist Andy Plant discussing
the clock:
http://planning.allerdale.gov.uk:8080/newclockinterviewfeb2007.wma
With thanks to Andy Plant and Public Art Consultant
Cathy Newbery. (Interview by Suzanne Dimmock)