September 2, 2024, 4:09 pm | Read time: 5 minutes
The creative garden “The Lost Gypsy” on the South Island of New Zealand could probably best be described as a kind of playground for adults. Around every corner, another playful space is waiting to be explored. Whether by pressing a button or moving a lever, every little work of art in Lost Gypsy has a surprise to offer. TRAVELBOOK spoke to the man who created this curious wonderland.
There are places that are so strange that you feel a bit like Alice in Wonderland. As if you’ve followed the white rabbit a little too far down the rabbit hole. One of these places is “The Lost Gypsy” in New Zealand. What you find here is unlikely to be found anywhere else in the world: it is the creative work of a man who is just as impressive as his art. TRAVELBOOK spoke to him.
Somewhat hidden in the Catlins, an area in the very south of New Zealand, there is a green wagon on which “The Lost Gypsy” is written in large letters. There are several of the artist’s works to admire outside. For example, a whale made of sheet metal appears to swim when you turn the corresponding lever. And a skeleton on a bicycle that starts pedaling.
The little curiosities react at the push of a button
A few steps lead into the large wagon, which is already full of visitors. Everyone wants to see what amazing toys Blair Somerville has built. There are little curiosities everywhere, which do crazy things at the push of a button or the turn of a lever. Some of them can be bought, but most of them remain part of the exhibition.
Inside the wagon, you feel like you’ve stepped into the toy store of an eccentric old man whose connection to this world seems delightfully tenuous. “What I love most about my job is coming up with ideas. The idea of something that I know I have to create,” says Somerville in an interview with TRAVELBOOK.
For a mere five dollars, you can gain entry to the adjoining garden, whimsically named “the winding thoughts of theater of sorts,” where larger-than-life gimmicks await the adventurous visitor. There, for example, you can pedal on a bicycle until you have generated enough electricity to “watch the best that television has to offer,” says Somerville. After a bit of physical exertion, your own face flickers on the little old TV. You can’t help but smile for a moment.
A tour of the garden reveals much more. In one room, there are many small pictures, each with its own secret, and with a flick of a lever, you can make the rusty cans on a hedge dance. In addition to the exhibition in the carriage and the crazy garden, there is also a small café where you can relax with snacks and drinks.
Somerville collects his materials on the beach
Somerville prefers to assemble his small works of art spontaneously. He tries a little here, a little there. He tinkers and toys, crossing his fingers that it will all come together in the end. Somerville finds most of his materials on the beach. Stones, wood, shells, organic materials, shoes, bones, and other things are considered garbage by most people. “I like working with things that previously had a different ‘life,'” says the tinkerer.
Blair Somerville describes himself as an “organic mechanic” but finds it difficult to define his work. “I work with so many different materials. But basically I make things that move and hopefully ‘move’ other people to react differently to my art than to static objects.” The best reaction to his work, Somerville reveals, “has been tears of joy. From adults”.
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Somerville doesn’t need a lot of money
Somerville never made a conscious decision to live this life. “It just evolved that way. But I love living in a house truck because it gives me a freedom I wouldn’t otherwise have. I don’t pay rent, I don’t pay electric bills, I never needed a ‘real’ job either, so I had the time to find my ideal way of life and voila. The Lost Gypsy Gallery was born.” He taught himself everything. “I experimented a bit, pulling on one end and seeing what happened, studying the different materials to see what they were capable of. I think my curiosity is my strongest attribute.”
The creativity evident in each of Somerville’s creations begs the question of where this man gets his ideas from. A question he hears all too often and can’t quite understand. “I’m often asked where I get my inspiration from,” says Somerville in a clip that New Zealand video artist Joey Bania made about The Lost Gypsy. He finds the question redundant, as inspiration is abundant in the bustling world around us. “There are so many things happening. Life itself is inspiring.”
Listening to Somerville talk in the video, you get the feeling that he has really found his way to live happily outside the norm. “I left home knowing that you don’t need much to live. And that I don’t need a lot of money,” he says in the video. “You just need some kind of roof over your head, some food, and a reason to be alive. The plan was to get through life without a mortgage and keep costs low. That’s also the reason why I live so far out. Which can sometimes be a bit of a nuisance.”
If you want to visit Somerville’s world of wonder, all you have to do is travel to the other side of the world and pay five dollars for admission. The gallery is closed during the New Zealand winter.