Last Friday, I went into London with my Mum and Dad as a sort of 'last day of the holidays' trip out. With our plans to visit the BP Portrait Awards at the National Portrait Gallery, we couldn't quite persuade my brother to come along too!
After having spent a lovely morning in the Seven Dials, walking with confidence into designer shops and pretending to be willing to pay £200 on a pair of jeans, we had a delicious lunch in a little Italian café before heading over to the gallery. The Portrait Awards were great and my parents and I did our usual thing of picking our favourite as we went round.
Once we were done, I was well and truly ready to get back to the station, as spending the day in London always seems so exhausting! But oh no, my Dad was adamant that we should trek all the way to Bethnal Green, where we would find a cornershop made of felt. He promised he'd heard about it on the news and couldn't wait to show me. I was a little skeptical about its very existence, if I'm honest.
My Mum and I traipsed after him as we jostled the crowds of people queuing for school uniform , stopping every now and then to ask directions. Seeing as it was so hard to find, I half expected to turn up at its supposed location to find just another derelict building, or at least just a normal corner shop.
When we eventually found the right road, it had started raining and I was even less hopeful. There were no other shops in sight and the only other people I'd seen were a few kids playing on their bikes. But as we drew closer to the end of the street, we saw quite a few people gathered round a shop-front on this otherwise empty row of houses. Sure enough, my Dad was victorious once again: we'd found The Cornershop.
After having spent a lovely morning in the Seven Dials, walking with confidence into designer shops and pretending to be willing to pay £200 on a pair of jeans, we had a delicious lunch in a little Italian café before heading over to the gallery. The Portrait Awards were great and my parents and I did our usual thing of picking our favourite as we went round.
Once we were done, I was well and truly ready to get back to the station, as spending the day in London always seems so exhausting! But oh no, my Dad was adamant that we should trek all the way to Bethnal Green, where we would find a cornershop made of felt. He promised he'd heard about it on the news and couldn't wait to show me. I was a little skeptical about its very existence, if I'm honest.
My Mum and I traipsed after him as we jostled the crowds of people queuing for school uniform , stopping every now and then to ask directions. Seeing as it was so hard to find, I half expected to turn up at its supposed location to find just another derelict building, or at least just a normal corner shop.
When we eventually found the right road, it had started raining and I was even less hopeful. There were no other shops in sight and the only other people I'd seen were a few kids playing on their bikes. But as we drew closer to the end of the street, we saw quite a few people gathered round a shop-front on this otherwise empty row of houses. Sure enough, my Dad was victorious once again: we'd found The Cornershop.
At a first glance, The Cornershop looks like any other. But once you step inside and have a closer look, you realise it's anything but normal. For starters, none of the groceries or confectioneries are edible. Secondly, a packet of Rich Tea biscuits is £30. Oh, and everything is made out of felt.
The hard work behind this "Fluffy Shopping Experience" is urban artist Lucy Sparrow. She spent seven months working 14-hour days making each item for her shop, which was open throughout August, meaning that today is closing day. Once we'd finished admiring her handy-work, we chatted to the smiling Lucy, who told us that her next project is a convenience store in New York! (We originally misheard her and thought she said York, so this made it even more impressive when we realised!).
We left feeling revived and I (unfortunately) had to admit to my Dad that the hike across London had been worth it.
Lucy creates artwork using mainly felt and wool, often producing versions of everyday objects, as well as existing art works.
According to a leaflet we took away with us, "The aim of this 'feltism' is to question, playfully, the politics of artistic production and to tackle some of the realities of contemporary living, dealing with issues concerning the politics of consumerism, social exclusion and mental wellbeing".
If you'd like to see what else Lucy has been up to, you can follow her on Twitter @sewyoursoul and use #thecornershop, visit her website www.sewyoursoul.co.uk or check out her Instagram: sewyoursoul.
Did you visit The Cornershop in Bethnal Green? What did you think?
Harriet x
