If you’ve walked up Sandown High Street in the last few days you may have seen this excellent addition to the window at 103 (next door to Boojum and Snark).
Tracy from Boojum explains more about the installation. In her own words. Ed
Boojum has facilitated a window installation next door at 103 High Street that imparts a sense of the strange and often lonely world of renowned eccentric, Olivia May Parkes.
Artists Teresa Grimaldi and Sarah Vardy are embarking upon an in-depth study of the life of the extraordinary Olivia Parkes. Olivia is famous for living a precarious existence in a stilted wooden boat hut on the beach at Ventnor for nearly 40 years. She resolutely chose to live off-grid without any amenities, despite intervention from the authorities.
A fascinating challenge
Unraveling her story is a fascinating challenge for Teresa and Sarah as they are relying on a handful of newspaper articles and some precious first-hand accounts from the ‘naughty boys’ who used to throw stones at her boathouse, other than these fragments, the rest is myth and confection.
Teresa explains,
“Olivia loved a flutter on the gee-gees as well as the pools. She seemed to make her money from selling fruit and sweets, however that did get her into trouble as she did a spell inside for selling sweets after hours!”
Highlighting the historical oppression of women
Singular and eccentric, Olivia’s life raises many questions about how unconventional women, especially those of limited means, were treated within society. There are many examples of how depressed and out of the ordinary women were branded as crazy for breaking social norms and locked away in mental asylums, some even lobotomised. The historical oppression of women makes Olivia’s story important from a feminist perspective
Sarah says,
“We know that Olivia’s family owned a foundry in Walsall, but we have no idea why she ended up living in a boathouse on the Isle of Wight.
“Through detective work we have discovered key moments in her life, but we also are uncovering themes of loneliness, isolation and steadfastness that go hand-in-hand with Olivia’s outsider life.”
The window installation
The window installation conjures up a sense of Olivia’s truly unusual life. Shadow images depict Olivia carrying bags and climbing the tall wooden ladders to her boathouse, a vulnerable but resolute woman living on the edge of society.
Strewn around are familiar objects from her life: racing papers, a jar of sweets, canvas daps, suitcases and a basket of fruit that weirdly come together to form a bizarre yet incomplete jigsaw puzzle.
Olivia is conjured as an uncompromising, melancholic figure who could only fit in by setting herself adrift. Her existence has struck a chord with the two artists, who maybe identify with elements of her story.
What’s next?
It will be very interesting to see how this project develops.
Teresa and Sarah are planning to make an experimental animated film about Olivia’s life. For more information on Teresa and Sarah visit the artists’ Website.
The window installation came about as part of a Ryde Arts residency project at The Department.
Boojum and Snark
Boojum&Snark is based at 105 High Street, Sandown.
You can get in touch by emailing [email protected] or find out more by visiting their Website, following on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
