Image: KINGS5EVENING
A former 7-Eleven in downtown Seattle has been given an unusual second life as an interactive art shop where familiar convenience-store products have been transformed into deliberately impractical artworks. Called the ‘Inconvenience Store’, the exhibition keeps much of the former shop’s layout, including its aisles, checkout area, refrigerator and hot-food counter, but fills them with creations from more than 70 artists. The exhibition officially opened on September 19 as part of Seattle’s WALKDONTRUN arts marathon and is scheduled to remain at the site through mid-2027. The creators have divided the exhibition into 14 departments, including sections resembling food and pantry, health and beauty, and office supplies.
The exhibition therefore combines the experience of shopping with that of visiting an art gallery. Visitors can find pre-tangled USB cables, a ‘landline iPhone’ that plays U2’s ‘Vertigo’ when answered, beeswax egg candles, bags made from Cheetos and Lay’s packaging, fake corn dogs and other strange reinterpretations of everyday objects. The checkout counter, aisles, refrigerator and hot-food area remain, but the products have been replaced with handmade art. The former hot-food counter has also been transformed. Instead of serving food, it displays artist-made versions of items including fake corn dogs with googly eyes and other playful designs. The approach allows visitors to navigate the exhibition much as they would a normal shop, except that almost everything on the shelves is an artwork. The familiar shop environment is also intended to make buying art less intimidating. Instead of encountering artworks in a traditional gallery with less obvious pricing, visitors can browse shelves and see prices attached to individual pieces. Visitors can browse the shelves, examine the unusual objects and, if they want, take one of the artworks home.