BERNIE Lubell’s neighbours must be patient people. The San Francisco-based artist spends a lot of his time constructing giant contraptions out of pieces of wood that need to be sawn and nailed together – and he does all this in his living room.

In fact, the scale of his latest piece, an enormous pedal-powered knitting machine which he created especially for his new exhibition at FACT, was dictated by the dimensions of his house.

“The width of it is the space between my window and fireplace,” he announces, indicating the 12m-high machine suspended from the ceiling of the Wood Street gallery’s foyer.

“My neighbour says he can see a dip in power whenever I use my tools, but he’s a musician so he makes a lot of noise too.”

Lubell, whose imaginative works are inspired by the experiments conducted by 19th century French scientist Etienne Jules Marey, is concerned about his street becoming gentrified in case newer, and richer, residents insist he keep the noise down.

For now though he can work right through the night at FACT without worry, installing his piece Theory of Entanglement before the exhibition’s June 19 opening.

Even visitors who choose not to visit the galleries, perhaps just stopping off for a cup of coffee in the cafe, will find it impossible to ignore his work.

You cannot miss the wooden mechanism hanging above your head as you walk into the building, which is just as well as it relies upon the public to work.

Visitors are invited to sit on a pair of rudimentary bikes and their pedalling works the machine, which turns very slowly and will ultimately produce a knitted knot that will dangle down from the ceiling.

Marey has been an obsession for Lubell for years. The scientist made significant advances in many areas of his field, including cardiology, aviation and cinematography.