Plenty of room on top!

Open to the public from tomorrow (Saturday July 7) through to October 1, artist Richard Wilson’s Hang On A Minute Lads, I’ve Got A Great Idea – named after Michael Caine’s famous last line in The Italian Job – is part of the London 2012 Festival, a 12-week nationwide celebration.

Recreating the final scene of the original 1969 movie, The Italian Job, Mr Wilson’s full-sized replica coach now balances from the roof of the De La Warr Pavilion (DLWP).

Hydraulically driven to ‘teeter’ on the edge of the DLWP roof, the replica bus measures 36 feet long, has a steel frame and is constructed from fibreglass and ply. Mr Wilson said the iconic building was the perfect setting for his traffic-stopping spectacle that is set to draw the crowds over the summer.

Mr Wilson said: “I work with architecture as my material. The inspiration was both the iconic De La Warr and the end sequence of the Italian Job.”

The bus is perched on the north side of the building. Mr Wilson said he wanted to show a different perspective to the DLWP, which tends to mainly be viewed from the South side.

Principal sponsor of the project, and honorary patron of the DLWP, Eddie Izzard, who is currently filming in Los Angeles, said with 2012 being the year the Olympics and Paralympic Games return to the UK this is a “perfect time to hang a large bus off the edge of a building in a seaside town”.

He added: “I am a huge fan of The Italian Job and I am proud to be the principal sponsor of Richard Wilson’s Hang on a Minute Lads. I hope that by the end of 2012 that the word goes out from our country that not only do we run excellent world events, but we also balance coaches on the edge of buildings like no one else ever could.”

As part of the project there are plans to screen The Italian Job as a drive-in movie, projected onto the side wall of the DLWP – dates to be announced. For further information visit the DLWP website: www.dlwp.com