The Northern Quarter Association were looking for a prominent  piece of public art to stand as a gateway to the quarter and represent the creativity of the area.  David Kemp, the Cornwall based sculptor, was commissioned to meet that mandate.

The sculpture was finance by funds from the Arts Council through the National Lottery, the City Council, National Car Parks Ltd (who own the site) and the Northern Quarter Association. It was completed in 1999.

The "Big Horn" wraps itself around the remnant of a former hat factory.  The creator David Kemp said of it that, 'It's not really a saxophone, nor a dragon, coiled on the gothic stump of a Victorian hat factory. Perhaps it's a listening device, filtering the left-over sounds from the street corner below, where the past bumps into the future, shooting the lights.'