
small ads/classifieds/personals – the go-to place to get help whether you need money, a home, a plumber or a baby daddy . .
These noticeboards are anthropological treasures, they are a commentary about a particular neighbourhood and about our society in general: They describe loneliness and need. They show us who is vulnerable and where social power lies.
There’s a lot of everyday sexism on these boards. I’ve not yet seen an ad where a woman is offering a man somewhere to sleep in return for managing her home maintenance, and social needs
The notices themselves are short stories – often poignant, sometimes funny and occasionally disturbing. The materiality of each physical notice creates a sort of portrait of the person behind it, the materials used, the syntax, spelling mistakes, changes and updates, handwriting, the idiosyncratic use of a typewriter all add to the richness of the stories.
These marketplaces are a disappearing phenomenon, the internet is partly responsible for this but it is also clear that gentrification has tidied away this unruly mess of paper, card and Blu-Tac
I’ve made an artwork about shop window noticeboards- textile facsimiles of shop window notices – it can be seen at
sandie macrae -postROOM – 41 Ecclesbourne Road, N1 3AF open thurs – sat 12-6pm and by appointment.
The exhibition starts 24th May and runs until 17th June.