British artists opens New York bodega, where common products are made of felt

Record ID: 878267

  • Title: British artists opens New York bodega, where common products are made of felt
  • Date: 5th June 2017
  • Summary: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (JUNE 5, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF BODEGA SHELVES STOCKED WITH FELT ART DEPICTING PRODUCTS VARIOUS OF FROZEN FOOD SECTION ARTIST, LUCY SPARROW, ARRANGING ITEMS ON SHELF (SOUNDBITE) (English) ARTIST, LUCY SPARROW, SAYING: "This is a felt bodega. So, it's a slice of New York, but made of felt." FELT PIZZA ON DISPLAY STORE SHELF FELT BODEGA CAT SURROUNDED BY FELT SAUSAGES (SOUNDBITE) (English) ARTIST, LUCY SPARROW, SAYING: "My work is so much about nostalgia and creating an emotional response to art works. So often you will go around to art galleries and it's quite sterile. You can't necessarily get that involved. But this is supposed to be an all-encompassing experience, you know, like ultra-sensory..." VARIOUS OF SPARROW FILLING REFRIGERATOR WITH FABRIC DIET COKE CANS (SOUNDBITE) (English) ARTIST, LUCY SPARROW, SAYING: "There's 9,000 items in total. Everything is for sale. So the first people who get in here are seeing it in the best state possible. But I don't have any back stock. The more sales, the more the shelves get empty. So it might not be here in two weeks." FELT SANDWICH BREAD VARIOUS OF FELT ITEMS ON DISPLAY VARIOUS OF FELT ATM WITH CASH (SOUNDBITE) (English) ARTIST, LUCY SPARROW, SAYING: "I am really thorough with my research of products. And, just for the entire project, I really like spend a lot of time making sure I get it right. Because that's the things the people really appreciate - little, tiny details that might be overlooked if you weren't concentrating." VARIOUS OF REFRIGERATED FELT ITEMS FELT PRODUCE FELT CLEANING ITEMS ON SHELF FELT CONDOMS FELT CANDY DISPLAY VARIOUS OF LUCY SPARROW AT CASH REGISTER CASH REGISTER WITH CIGARETTES ON BACK SHELF ONE DOLLAR BILL ON DISPLAY (REAL) SPARROW AT REGISTER EXTERIOR OF STORE 8 'TILL LATE NOW OPEN SIGN
  • Embargoed: 19th June 2017 19:56
  • Keywords: 8 'Till Late convenience store Cornershop bodega installation art felt Lucy Sparrow
  • Location: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
  • City: NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Art,Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Human Interest / Brights / Odd News
  • Reuters ID: LVA0016K05AHL
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: British artist Lucy Sparrow has opened a convenience store in New York City. Like a real convenience store, everything is for sale. But in this shop, all of the items on display are playfully made of soft, felt material.
    The store is an art installation called "8 'Till Late", and it is set up to look like a real neighborhood bodega.
    Bodega, a Spanish word meaning wine shop, is New York City slang for small stores selling everything from deli foods to newspapers and cat litter. According to the Bodega Association of the United States, there are more than 14,000 bodegas in New York City.
    All of the items in Sparrow's exhibit look like what you would find in a small neighborhood store. Doritos, Jif peanut butter, Heinz ketchup, Bud Light beer, as well as frozen foods, produce, candy, pizza and personal items.
    "It's a slice of New York, but made of felt," said Sparrow, 30, during the opening of her installation at the Standard Hotel in New York's Meatpacking District on Monday (June 5).
    Sparrow said she wanted the bodega to feel authentic. Thus, there is even a felt "bodega cat" to keep the mice away.
    Many of the intricately detailed felt art pieces are items that would have been on sale inside any bodega in the 1990's. One of the aims of the exhibition is to take patrons back in time and perhaps provoke childhood memories.
    "My work is so much about nostalgia and creating an emotional response to art works. So often you will go around to art galleries and it's quite sterile. You can't necessarily get that involved. But this is supposed to be an all-encompassing experience, you know, like ultra-sensory...," Sparrow said.
    Every item on the store shelves is individually handmade and signed by the artist. Most of the items range in price from $30 to $75 (USD).
    "There's 9,000 items in total. Everything is for sale. So the first people who get in here are seeing it in the best state possible. But I don't have any back stock. The more sales, the more the shelves get empty. So it might not be here in two weeks."
    Sparrow said she visited New York bodegas during her research and said it took nine months to create the entire store stock.
    "I am really thorough with my research of products. And, just for the entire project, I really like spend a lot of time making sure I get it right. Because that's the things the people really appreciate - little, tiny details that might be overlooked if you weren't concentrating," she said.
    Sparrow's New York City bodega installation comes three years after her "Cornershop" exhibition in London sold out to enthusiastic crowds.
    Her "8 'Till Late" exhibition is scheduled to run until June 30 in New York.
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