London Artist Creates Entire Corner Shop Out of Felt

Felt butter. Felt SPAM. Felt condoms. Snuggle up to your groceries in this new, adorable installation from London artist Lisa Sparrow. Taking over a Bethnal Green cornerstore, Sparrow has stitched, stuffed and hand-priced hundreds of Coke cans, milk bottles and Men's Health magazines to stock the shelves with her latest artwork.

Partly crowdfunded by Kickstarter, the Cornershop project took eight months to put together, realising the contents of an entire Bethnal Green shop in felt (with a tiny bit of lycra and plastic detailing). Crafting canned goods, confectionery, alcohol, toiletries, frozen food, cigarettes, ice cream, chewing gum, newspapers and magazines, Sparrow posted up the full inventory on her blog.

While by no means an entirely never-done-before idea, it's pretty damn cute. The store will stick around for the month of August at 19 Wellington Row, then move to Brighton in October. Channeling artists like Sarah Lucas, Tracey Emin and Michael Landy with their embracing of the humble store, Sparrow's obvious penchant for nostalgia shines through felt Extra gum packets and felt Fanta.

"[The corner shop] is something that's disappearing with the growth of supermarkets, and the loss of the corner shop has adversely impacted our high streets and communities," said Sparrow. "I hoped that this project would remind people just how much the corner shop cemented life in local communities."

But the Cornershop Project isn't merely a vessel for shining a light on consumerism; Sparrow's work often makes a big statement on art audiences (and their undeniable hierarchy). "The Cornershop is a tactile project and I felt it was important to create some art for communities that normally find themselves excluded from mainstream art," Sparrow told Dezeen. Opening doors to all art enthusiasts, the Cornershop Project includes sewing workshops for children and people with neurological disabilities.

"I chose felt because it's a naive, almost childlike material that everyone comes into contact with at a young age when first they start to sew," Sparrow explains. "It's a very forgiving fabric that's approachable and is available in a huge range of colours. It was just the right material to give the pieces saturation, stroke-ability and a uniform appearance."

Sparrow introduces the often underapplauded realms of craft to the more recognised world of contemporary art. Mainly working with felt and wool to tackle the politics of consumerism, Sparrow has crafted food many times before — a movement she's called 'feltism' and 'craftivism' — crafting everything from felt cigarettes to oversized giant felt burgers.

Alongside reams of huge group shows — over 35 including the annual 'Modern Panic' exhibition in London and Nottingham's City Art Institute of Mental Health Exhibition —the London artist was notably shown alongside Banksy in the Victoria and Albert Museum's touring street art exhibition 'Urban Take-Over' in 2013.

So whip out that cuddly credit card, let's go shopping.

The Felt Cornershop will be open until 31 August in Bethnal Green, London before moving to Brighton in October.

Via Dezeen.