Cling film is notoriously fiddly and infuriating. You can never find the end and it always seems to stick to itself just as you are about to use it.

But artist Graeme Gilmour loves it so much he has used 12km of the stuff to transform Brighton Dome into a marble.

During the Brighton Festival the 65ft high dome will shimmer in the sun during the day and glow under spotlights by night, providing a focus for the three-week revelries.

The designer, performer and puppeteer, who lives in Brighton, was given the task of tying in the Dome with the festival's marble theme.

He said: "We were originally looking at ways of putting marbles on each of the spikes around the building but I wasn't sure it was structurally possible.

"Then I realised the shape of the Dome could be a giant marble."

Wrapping the structure, 80ft in diameter, is, of course, a far cry from wrapping a slice of left-over pie.

Graeme, along with three professional riggers, was connected to the top of the dome. The team then abseiled down, passing a roll of industrial cling film between them.

He said: "It's great being up there. It's nine metres above the height of the building but it doesn't actually feel that high up.

"I got trained up last week by the head rigger. I wasn't going to pass up the opportunity of doing it myself.

"They've never wrapped a dome - I've never wrapped a dome before but I'm really enjoying it. I'd like to do more. Find me a building and I'll wrap it."

It is not the first time Graeme has taken on a tricky medium.

One of his past projects was Sticky - a 100ft tower of sticky tape with fireworks and music.

He said: "Cling film was a natural progression as it's bigger."

He avoids the problem of finding the start of the roll by using the entire thing.

He said: "They come in 300 metre rolls and I use it from start to finish."

So is he Brighton's answer to Christo, the artist who famously wrapped the Reichstag, the German parliament, in Berlin?

He said: "I've always liked Christo's stuff. There will obviously be similarities and comparisons made between us but he tends to wrap his buildings in fabric which means you can't see the building inside, just a general shape. With my wrapping you can still see the building, it just makes you look at it in a different way."

As part of the festival, Graeme has also helped make the big wheel for Same Sky's Streets of Brighton parade.