STYLE | Art
Foible & Folly A spitef u l don key, rog ue sai lor, and pinched pigeons: desig ner Lauren Fry delves into Isle of Wight newspaper archives to unearth fantastic ta les of bygone Sandow n
John Lowe. Accused, alongside George Cobbett, of stealing two pigeons and a rabbit, the property of James Evans, landlord of the King’s Head Inn, Sandown. Sentenced to 3 weeks hard labour. Isle of Wight Mercury, 20th March 1858
F
oible & Folly, funded by Arts Council England, playfully introduces us to characters whose misdeeds caused quite a stir. Designer Lauren Fry purposely chose to celebrate their stories as part of Sandown’s zany past, creating three striking articulated dolls which are on display in the window of Boojum&Snark. Designer and Arts educator Lauren Fry was given the herculean task of trawling through the Victorian Isle of Wight newspaper archive to tease out stories and fragments of Sandown history that combine to illustrate the very personality of a place. The resultant exhibition, Foible & Folly, features three large articulated paper dolls that will be displayed in the window of Boojum&Snark over the year.
George Reid, seamen on board HMS Minotaur. Accused of assaulting PC Pauling who attempted to remove him from The King’s Head Hotel for being drunk at the request of the boots and the landlord. Sentenced to 4 months hard labour in Portsmouth. The Isle of Wight County Press, 10th January 1885
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Lauren Fry says: “When I started looking through the British Newspaper Archives online my only predetermined idea was that I wasn’t interested in celebrity visitors or Royals gracing the town with their presence. I wanted to find stories about people that were the fabric of Sandown and understand a little about their daily experience. Each story that made the cut contained something I couldn’t get out of my mind: the anthropomorphic form of a sailor from HMS Minotaur; a donkey attributed with the human trait of being spiteful; and where did the man who stole two pigeons and a rabbit actually hide them? “Foible & Folly is a celebration of men (and beasts) that were part of Sandown’s story, and although 30 years apart, one building, The
