By Victoria Raimes

Last updated 13:52, Friday, 22 August 2008

William Wordsworth’s love of Grasmere inspired some of the Romantic movement’s most memorable poetry. Wordsworth spent his happiest years there. Tourists today travel from across the globe to marvel at the fells and bask in its beauty.

Steve Messam: ’People can recall trees, mountains, lakes, but nothing solid’

But in Steve Messam’s eyes what the place really needs is red balls. Half a mile of them, suspended in the air.

St Bees is in urgent need of a makeover too. Three and a half thousand sandcastles along the shore should spruce it up sufficiently.

And then there’s Cummock Water and Keswick. These beauty spots have been merely about lakes, greenery and mountains for far too long. Isn’t it time for a raindrop the size of two double-decker buses to splash onto the scene?

These are just three of many contemporary artworks designed by the Kirkby Stephen-based artist. His 22m high by 16m wide raindrop – aptly entitled DROP – will be in place early next month. And Steve will then have Europe’s largest art festival to organise. As head of FRED, he will kick off the two-week annual art invasion on September 26.

During FRED’s fifth year about 50 artists, half of them local, will display their projects around Cumbria’s great outdoors.

Not only is Steve an unstoppable sculptor and photographer, he is a pioneer of art in a much-neglected corner of the country. “We are so detached from the urban art world, a lot of excellent works are missed,” he says.

“FRED is about introducing contemporary art to the rural area, to ensure the land of the forgotten gets a taster of urban life.”

Nobody can deny the event’s past success. Individual projects, such as the ‘Beached’ sandcastles and ‘Balls to Grasmere’ attract thousands of visitors and have tempted some of the most famous faces in conceptual art to get involved.

“In FRED’s second year we thought we’d invite Jenny Holtzer to contribute, for a laugh. She agreed to create some artwork on the till receipts at Tebay Service Station. So over the course of FRED we gave away over half a million works by one of the world’s most famous artists.

“You might wonder why she agreed to the project. It’s because she understands our position. Jenny lives in the Catskill Mountains, just outside New York. She moved there to get away from the art world clique; to avoid being influenced by anything other than her own thoughts. She gets what we stand for.”

If only everything was so straightforward. Clashes between conventionalists and modernists have broken out over some of the ‘wackier’ FRED projects, resulting in the ban of a neon sign by a local artist in Ulverston last year. “I couldn’t believe it,” says an exasperated Steve. “Moaning about a flashing sign. Some places need to get with the 21st century.

“It is incredibly hard to pinpoint and capture tradition when so many things, including the landscape, are constantly changing.”

A further work saw the police politely ask Steve’s team not to play a giant image of a waving woman over the A6 after they deemed it a hazard.

Steve is also not immune from tussles with traditionalists. He has been known to let his inner child’s mischief filter into his art, going so far as designing an exhibition of pickled fairies. He encased the mystical creatures – whether or not they're real is a secret – in vinegar and displayed them at an exhibition held in a Glasgow club’s toilets.

And then there were the pickled penises. “For a 2002 exhibition in Eden the curator said I could do absolutely anything, as long as it wasn’t too big. That was their first big mistake.

“Too big wasn’t a problem. I decided to enter collection of pickled penises. Some people loved it and thought it was hilarious; others were disgusted and offended. I thought it was great, either way.

“The telling thing was that every single comment in the guest book was about my project. Every single one. I say at least it provoked an emotion in everybody.

“I can’t reveal much about the magic of the fairies; they may be due to return this year.”

Even Steve’s less controversial projects have provoked negativity at times. Is his modern art an imaginative creation or an eyesore?

He is not so arrogant as to think his projects necessarily improve the scenery. Rather, they are a cultural compass designed to point audiences in the direction of savouring the countryside.

“You find people can rarely remember the detail of an individual landscape because after a while all views look the same, especially when you live among them day by day.

“People can recall trees, mountains, lakes, but nothing solid.

“But put something unusual in the middle of an area and you have a reference point to remember details by”.

DROP is a prime example of enhancing Lake District appreciation. Steve is featuring his giant sculpture at two specifically chosen locations to honour Sir Thomas West, a traveller who in the 1790s was the first to promote the area’s beauty.

“He basically created tourism,” Steve asserts. “During that time nobody appreciated the iconic scenes of the Lakes. Those who wanted beauty would search abroad.

“But West convinced people to take his UK tour. It was shockingly lazy tourism as they basically got out of their carriages and produced their Claude glasses – a device designed to distort the landscape to look more like a picture. It’s the equivalent today of driving around and getting your digital camera out.

“DROP is meant to represent two things. It is reflective like a Claude glass, and shaped like a raindrop – the building block of the Lakes. Those who hate the rain should think, without it we wouldn’t have tourism.”

Although Steve has created artwork for locations stretching between Kirkby Stephen and Shanghai, his homeland is his preferred medium.

Farming is a local cause close to his heart, although he doesn’t dabble himself. Instead he sticks to ploughing 35-acre designs across cornfields. Project DOTT, which took place across Northumberland, was designed to work with farmers as a means of highlighting the agricultural role.

Farmers provide our food and shape our landscape, but Steve felt they did not get the recognition they deserved. So he branded the fields along the Newcastle-Edinburgh railway line with his work.

“It was the perfect way to get maximum exposure because more people travel along that line in a day than visit Northumberland in a year.

“As well as stressing how instrumental the farming community is, I wanted to point out that you can still be a tourist, appreciate the beautiful landscapes around us, even if you are merely passing through.

Despite its isolation, Steve appreciates his rural home – even though it means a trek through two cow-filled fields to reach humanity.

Long ago he pondered whether the Lake District was the right location for an artist. Should a creative mind enjoy the solitude of the fells or the surging activity of urban art hubs?

Steve’s position was made clear when he recently moved from a cottage in England’s remotest town to a house on its outskirts.

“It may be as removed from the art world as you can get but the upside is you can be yourself here.

“Psychologically I always have a free mind.

“Purity of idea is the most important thing in art. If you’re influenced by the city clique you achieve nothing original. Life as an artist is pointless.”

DROP will launch at Crummock Water between September 11-13.

It will be at Crow Park, Keswick from September 18-21.