Not Just Your Local 31,000 Piece Felt Grocery Store: An Interview With Lucy Sparrow

Lucy Sparrow, the UK artist who has become famous the world over for her “everything felt,” immersive, experiential installations, has some funny stories about her projects in the early days. Those sort of stories where, at night, unsuspecting passersby walk into what they think is a corner store, have their head down, head to the candy rack, pick up an all felt, sewn and painted, candybar, and don’t realize that what they’re about to buy is an original piece of art, and not a fix for their sweet tooth craving. Once they realize where they are, how they just unknowingly walked into a live-action art installation, they end up buying … art. And yes, art can be anywhere, and it can be anything, but the performative act of this purchase is what caught my attention when I first learned about Lucy Sparrow’s work. It was transformative, both socially and creatively.