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Stiletto Sculpture Update
Paul Turner of www.rudloescene.co.uk

Photos courtesy Paul Turner
May 2019
 
With regard to the Shoe Sculpture section, I can add information about the shoe sculptures of Slaughterford.[1]
 
The story of the stilettos of Slaughterford is an odd one and it has always remained a mystery. I first saw them in, perhaps, the late 80s or early 90s. They have not moved as they are firmly bolted to the fallen trunk beneath. They were initially pristine but, of course, over the years they have suffered from winds and weathers. Latterly, a pair of pink, ladies’ boots was added, also firmly bolted to the trunk. So, this is art in the countryside.
 
I didn't know about the Box sculpture, which seems a scaled-down version of the high art of Slaughterford.
​I wonder if the two are linked?

Right: The state of the shoes in 2012-13
Picture
Picture

The story was reported in a BBC Wiltshire article in October 2009 talking about the mystery in the Weavern Lane stretch of the Macmillan Way.[2] They reported that According to Liz Newman, who's lived in the area all her life, it all started back in the 1980s when the first pair of mysterious shoes made an appearance: "The first pair I saw were a pair of high heeled stiletto shoes," says Liz. "They looked to me like they'd come from the 1950s.

The BBC report went on to say: The incongruous looking high heels had actually been bolted to a metal bar and then screwed into one of the tree roots lining the lane.
 
As each pair disintegrated, more shoes mysteriously appeared: pink knee-high boots, a pair of white stilettos, then men's brogues. The creator has never been identified, nor the reason for the installation.
 
Can any sole out there help us find the perpetrator or heel remain a mystery.
 

References
[1] www.rudloescene.co.uk/localities/slaughterford/
[2] http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/wiltshire/hi/people_and_places/newsid_8314000/8314704.stm
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