Cornering the market in cuddly tins

Another day, another artist doing something tin-related. I heard about this project through the crowd-funding website Kickstarter, which artist Lucy Sparrow is using to raise sufficient capital to set up "The Cornershop" later this year.

Lucy describes herself as a textiles artist, working "mainly with felt and wool creating over-sized soft versions of existing objects and major art works." The idea behind her current project is to take over an abandoned cornershop in East London and re-open it, stocked entirely with felt versions of the products you would normally expect to be able to buy.



This type of small, independent shop can often be a treasure trove for tin-hunting, so I was delighted to see that alongside the newspapers, cigarettes, and confectionery will be a number of varieties of tinned goods made of felt, including soup, beans and Spam. The shop will operate as a real cornershop during the month-long installation, with all the products available for purchase.

While some might wonder what about the point behind the exercise, I particularly like the idea that the project is not merely about making felt versions of the products but to "rekindle these spaces as sites of community building" - while the shop is open, there will also be a series of art and craft workshops and activities to bring local residents and shoppers together.

At the time of writing, there is just over a week left to pledge money for the project, though the initial £2000 target has already been exceeded. Those who donate will be rewarded with one of the felt products, as well as a VIP invite to the shop and their name on the list of contributors in the exhibition catalogue.

So, if you've ever fancied owning a cuddly tin of tomato soup or similar, get pledging now!

Under can-struction