So, the first post in August, and after being all "oooh, look I'm here, I'm so hot" for a couple of weeks, summer appears to have sneaked off somewhere else. No matter. It creates the perfect scenario for Shopping Bag to tell you about the Officially British Summertime exhibition (note: Britons-on-the-beach wallpaper by Belynda Sharples, left) which is currently showing at The Shop Floor Project.
It's not any run of the mill exhibition. It's virtual, because The Shop Floor Project is virtual. It's tongue in cheek because, as we know, the British summer-time is, well, unreliable. And you can buy everything that's exhibited.
SB, for one, likes TSFP very much. It's run by mother and daughter
Denise and Samantha Allan, and you'll
see as soon as you enter their
site, that it's not any run of the mill webshop, either. The setting
for the products (by various designers) is effectively a collage from
old magazines and film footage, which gives a very surreal feeling that
you're actually in an environment that isn't tied to any place or time
(SB will admit at this point that she very willingly suspends disbelief
at any opportunity).
The exhibition, on until 21 August, is a "distinct take on all things British", and as such, features Folk Art cushions, Anne Barrell's plates and tiles, which offer a glimpse of the "bittersweet melancholia" of the English seaside (NB: if you're trying to keep upbeat, don't worry, they're not too depressing), fantastic screens by Daniel Heath, with hand-printed wallpaper, and classic prints on bags (see above) by Megan Price. More, too, including beach-style homes for birds (the feathered kind - I haven't suddenly become all macho).
While you're there, you shouldn't miss the rest of the regular stock. The proverbs postcards set by Lucy May Schofield (£12 for 12) speaks to my cruel streak - I'd love to send the card inscribed with "you reap what you sow", or "misery loves company".
The Shop Floor Project is a great place for jewellery too, and is the first place in the UK to stock New York based designer Erica Weiner. The hand-made pieces are (as you'd expect these days) made from vintage/scavenged materials (I wonder if the day will come when a selling point will be "made from shiny new material"?), and EW has a very profitable fascination with birds and insects. I like the bumble bee necklace (left) - £28 - a lot, and the gliding swift earrings (£13) are pretty lovely too.
So, yes, many things to wander around and see on the shop floor, without actually having to physically wander around an actual shop floor. How's that for a summer-time expedition?
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