A GIANT crocheting machine powered by pedalling visitors will be the centrepiece of FACT’s next exhibition.

Designed by award-winning artist Bernie Lubell, the 12m-high wooden contraption will be suspended from the ceiling of the centre’s foyer when the showcase opens in June.

Members of the public will be needed to make the machine work, producing a large crocheted knot when a series of linked cycles are pedalled.

Lubell has built the new commission, A Theory of Entanglement, in the garage of his San Francisco home.

It is currently being shipped in a 40ft container and will arrive at Liverpool Docks on May 1.

Karen Newman, the exhibition’s curator, said the gallery was excited about hosting Lubell’s first UK showcase.

She said: “It’s going to be something visitors have never seen before.

“It’s the first time FACT has filled the building with wood, so it’s the most low-fi exhibition we’ve ever had – there are no videos or computers.”

It will take Lubell almost a month to install A Theory of Entanglement, along with a further six works.

He will begin fitting out the centre’s Gallery 1 while the current exhibition, Climate for Change, is still ongoing.

However, he will only be able to instal the work in the atrium during the night, as the Wood Street building is open to the public until 11pm.

Ms Newman adds: “He has to send over some spare parts in case anything breaks because the pieces are made from soft wood.

“Because all the works require visitor participation, he expects some of them to break down at some point, so each one comes with its own specially made ‘out of order’ sign.”