Artist to create the biggest work of art the world has ever seen

It will be the biggest sculpture the world has ever seen - a Meccano style marvel spanning the entire globe.

And the artist behind the project hails from Solihull.

Luke Burton is effectively building a stainless steel wall that will span four corners of the Earth. In all 195 countries will be involved.

And, like memorial walls at football grounds, supporters can place their own messages on the steel brickwork.

When completed, The Connection will be a symbol of global solidarity, said Mr Burton.

The very first piece of the wall will be unveiled in Broadway Plaza, Birmingham and will be in the shape of a plus sign, pointing north, south, east and west.

Other sections of the wall will then be placed around the world by an assortment of charities. In the UK, The Connection will promote Cancer Research, The Salvation Army and Charlie Ramsey’s Research Fund. Businesses are being urged to back the scheme.

Mt Burton said, “My aim is to see The Connection grow organically brick by brick in front of our eyes. We all have the opportunity o have a name or message engraved on the bricks as we are the building blocks of a better future.

The Connection is Mr Burton’s biggest undertaking in a career studded with larger-than-life endeavours.

In 2012, he created a 22-foot Olympic and Paralympic Monument at the National Exhibition centre.

Mr Burton added: “I’m now creating the world’s largest work of art. There are individual pieces of The Connection that will be placed around the world. It will represent race, gender, nationality and the world as one community. I hope it to be an iconic structure that represents the world and inspires others. We are in the same future and we need to make it a good one.”