The Writer: "People seem to love it or hate it."

The first week of Art Fortnight London was marked by the unveiling of Giancarlo Neri's huge nine-metre (thirty feet) sculpture, "The Writer".

The Naples-born artist used six tons of steel and 1,000 lbs. of wood to create the giant sculpture.

Described as a tribute to the loneliness of writing, the giant table and chair is easily the size of a house and, not surprisingly, has been attracting a constant stream of visitors to north London's Hampstead Heath.

The Writer will be displayed on Parliament Hill for four months before returning to Italy.

Leslie Mare, from the Corporation of London which runs the heath, said: "People seem to love it or hate it". Ms Mare told BBC News: "People talk about it, look at it, some people have even graffiti'd on it but it's really engaged people."

Creator Neri, who used to play soccer for New York Apollos in the seventies, chose the heath, one of London's most popular parks, after hearing of its artistic heritage and its association with writers like Keats and Coleridge.

He says he wants people to interact with The Writer, using it as a picnic spot or using the legs as goal posts.