The Cornershop - a hand sewn shopping experience
Being a busy bee and flitting from one place to another with barely a moment to spare it's easy to forget the many things I mean to visit. I am an avid list maker but my slightly chaotic lifestyle means that I sometimes forget to check my lists (the irony is not lost on me that for my 9-5 I am actually paid to organise). However, I am trying to put a concerted effort into catching the many things I want to see and I will be posting about more of them soon. The 'Cornershop', a so called 'fluffy shopping experience' by the artist Lucy Sparrow was an absolute must to visit and my only shame is in being so tardy to blog about it so that you, readers, will not be able to see the utter brilliance of it unless it was also on your own list in August. If you have ever lived in London, or any large city, you will know the importance and community that surrounds your local 'cornershop' (I haven't lived in London for nearly 10 years but still keep in touch with my local whenever I'm in the area, Imran and his wife were charming and even supplied us with items from their own kitchen when we lived a few doors from their shop). Lucy's installation recreates a typical cornershop in it's entirety in felt....yes, that's right, FELT!
Seeing was definitely believing and despite reading all the reviews nothing will prepare you for the sheer brilliance of this installation. The thought of the hard graft that must have gone into making the large number of items will make you gasp in amazement. The only negative is that you cannot touch everything as the tactile nature of the products has you itching to pick them up in wonder.
Who hasn't popped down to their local with a coat thrown over their pyjamas to fetch a can of these for a late hungover breakfast?
My personal favourite dinner (breakfast or lunch) for one. I have to admit to guiltily consuming these straight from the tin.
Imran, our local cornershop owner when we lived in London, was a devout Muslim and is says a lot about our relationship that the only thing we shopped elsewhere for was emergency beer. We used to sneak by and visit another shop 100 yards further along the road and took a detour on the way back to avoid offence (although we always felt so guilty for shopping at the competition).
Even the freezer was fully stocked in felt products. Please do pop over to Lucy's website and have a look at how she started on this journey. Her next project is a convenience store in New York, that's got to be worth a visit.
Seeing was definitely believing and despite reading all the reviews nothing will prepare you for the sheer brilliance of this installation. The thought of the hard graft that must have gone into making the large number of items will make you gasp in amazement. The only negative is that you cannot touch everything as the tactile nature of the products has you itching to pick them up in wonder.
Who hasn't popped down to their local with a coat thrown over their pyjamas to fetch a can of these for a late hungover breakfast?
My personal favourite dinner (breakfast or lunch) for one. I have to admit to guiltily consuming these straight from the tin.
Imran, our local cornershop owner when we lived in London, was a devout Muslim and is says a lot about our relationship that the only thing we shopped elsewhere for was emergency beer. We used to sneak by and visit another shop 100 yards further along the road and took a detour on the way back to avoid offence (although we always felt so guilty for shopping at the competition).
Even the freezer was fully stocked in felt products. Please do pop over to Lucy's website and have a look at how she started on this journey. Her next project is a convenience store in New York, that's got to be worth a visit.
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