Artist Creates NYC Bodega Completely Out Of Felt

Lucy Sparrow’s art installation in New York is definitely heartfelt ― with an emphasis on the felt.

The British artist has created an authentic bodega, complete with hot dogs, sodas and vegetables. The whole thing is made from felt ― even the bodega cats.

“I wanted to create this all-encompassing art experience of a bodega, which is completely disappearing in New York City,” Sparrow says in the video above. “And I’ve recreated this in felt.”

The felt bodega display is officially called “8 ‘Til Late,” and is located on the ground floor of The Standard hotel, High Line, in Manhattan.

Sparrow and her assistants made all 9,000 parts of the creation in London from wool pressed and rolled into felt. Then she shipped 9 tons of felt goodies to the U.S. in four planes.

The idea is to remind people of the world that existed before everything went online.

“The convenience store and bodega is where you would go and see your neighbors and have a chat and see if everything was still okay,” Sparrow says. “I think we are all leading such narrow lives that we are living online rather than actually living in the present.”

Like a real bodega, everything in the felt one is for sale. A felt cigarette pack costs $20, while a box of felt candy is $35, according to The New York Times.

That’s more expensive than the real items at a real bodega, but Sparrow says they have lasting value.

“So you can get an original piece of art for as little as $15, and you know that’s incredible, that’s accessibility to the max,” she says in the video.

Of course, if you’ve felt the appeal of the project, you can buy the whole “store” for $500,000.

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