Olympic Ugly?

The director of Lanternhouse in Cumbria Stephen Powell once gave me a residency as a photographer to devise what has emerged as 'Cumbria Ugly'.

I have heard he is now going to devise the handover ceremony for London at the end of the Beijing Olympics.

I'm really pleased for him as he is a top, top bloke. Maybe my project will get a push along now.

Cumbria Ugly emerged from conversations and reflections on what people consider to be beautiful or ugly about this part of the world, and from a desire to create participative, accessible, sustainable work that goes beyond the Beatrix Potter take on what makes Cumbria special and engaging. It is also an opportunity for local communities and individuals to re-engage with environments which they either take for granted or feel antagonistic towards. The project would result in a number of artefacts, physical and virtual, including a Cumbria Ugly tourist map/guide, digital video presentations, workshops in schools and colleges and performance as well as generating debate, interest and publicity. The process would begin with a countywide image audit where Cumbria residents send in photos/images of what they consider to be ugly in the county.