Carnival revellers busting for a leak will be taunted by a giant urinal wheeled around Herne Bay as part of a festival celebrating artist Marcel Duchamp.

The 12-foot sculpture, made out of MDF, will be a scale replica of the French-American pioneer’s most famous work, The Fountain, exhibited in 1917.

It is expected to take a few weeks to build the structure, which organisers hope will join other floats on the Herne Bay Carnival on August 10.

It will also be put on display at various points around the town during the Duchamp Festival, running from July 31 to August 18.

Whitstable artist Phillip Long of Nagual Creations has been commissioned to build the work, expected to weigh about seven tonnes.

Duchamp Festival spokesman Steve Coombes said: “The Marcel Duchamp Centenary always promised to bring unmissable art to the town but now that’s literally the case.

“We want it to be our part of the carnival and be surrounded by people on art bikes, which represent another of Duchamp’s famous works.

“It is going to be a precise copy of the Fountain and another part of this festival which is turning the town around.”

Phillip Long said: “I love the chance of putting something back into my community and of recognising the significance of Marcel Duchamp’s moment in Herne Bay.

“Of course, a giant urinal is fun and absurd but it is more than a piece of seaside vulgarity.

“The original Fountain changed the world of art forever, telling a deep story of global significance.

“Hopefully, a 12-foot-high version will remind people of its continuing cultural importance and impact.”

Marcel Duchamp visited Herne Bay in the summer of 1913, during the formulative phase of his career.

His original porcelain urinal was displayed at an exhibition in New York in 1917, as a protest against art committees who had rejected his work before.

Mr Coombes added: “It was a joke about the pretentiousness of art.

“The urinal was a work of art because he said it was a work of art.”

Five originals were eventually made and exhibited. They will be the focus of debate between art scholars at the Kings Hall on Friday, August 2.

For details about the Duchamp Festival, visit www.iamnotdead.co.uk