While the building is being renovated, the hands of the town hall clock have been brought down to our level and are now on display in the Central Library. Viewing them up close, is a completely different prospect. Their scale isn’t the only thing to change (they are way bigger than a person) but also the function – up on the clockface they are tools for telling the time, whereas here on the library floor they seem more like sculpture or an art installation, inviting closer viewing and speculation. The tensa-barrier is a bit of a shame, reminding us that this is the foyer of a civic building, not an art gallery display.

The hands will go back onto the giant clocktower in advance of the reopening of the Town Hall in a few years time. https://www.manchester.gov.uk/info/500354/our_town_hall/7297/our_town_hall_project_-_the_transformation