NEW YORK (AP) – If the hot dogs in this New York City bodega feel a little, well, soft and squishy, don’t worry, it’s not a health hazard. It’s art.
A British artist has recreated the contents of a city bodega entirely in felt, the soft material usually favored by the school-going set. Lucy Sparrow’s “8 Till Late” opened to the public in a 1,200-square-foot space at The Standard hotel on Manhattan’s west side on Monday and runs through June 30.
Sparrow handmade the 9,000 items in the installation, covering practically everything you might find in the small stores that are synonymous with New York City – there are felt jars of peanut butter and jelly as well as packages of white bread; felt pizza slices and pretzels on the felt grill along with felt hot dogs; felt boxes of detergent and a felt fridge filled with felt ice cream.
The artist has been working in felt for years and says the material “evokes nostalgia with people.”
The New York City exhibit follows a similar one Sparrow created in London, called “The Cornershop.” The point of both, she said, was to generate conversation about what is lost when small mom-and-pop stores like bodegas fade away, often with chain stores coming in as replacements.