Our artistic explorations touch into the bodily action of chewing gum, delimiting spaces and the space between the private and the public.

Our group started with discussions of the liminal and opposites; the good and the bad, legal and illegal, good and bad art, adulthood and childhood, public and private sphere. The concept of penumbra became a guide in our explorations, the in-between, the grey zone.

We soon came across the material of bubble gum through conversations and diving into each person’s cultural context. We began to unpack gum’s innocent, joyful and playful nature. It’s intimate connection to childhood; full of colour and with a fruity aroma, bubble gum recalls some of our early reckless days.

But gum also has another part, a repulsive one, a social negativity. It leaves a remnant that is difficult to remove. This residue entails the history of a body consuming it, and then throwing it away. It embodies the first step of our digestion and, in the process of spitting it out, makes it visible to the world. This demonstration of a very intimate and inner act carries negative connotations of repulsion. It is an invasion of the private sphere into the public one.

Our artistic explorations touch into the bodily action of chewing gum, delimiting spaces and the space between the private and the public.