A n d r e w s G u m W o r l d

IMAGE: europics.at

Today’s Croatian Times reports on a wooden gum pillar created by artist Andrej Macko from Slovonski Brod in eastern Croatia.

Macko is head of the “Seed, Stump, Art, Life” artists cooperative which helps war veterans learn new skills by creating handcrafted wooden furniture pieces, which have been featured most recently at Eco-Ethno Croatia fair. Despite suffering post-traumatic stress disorders following his service in the Croatian Homeland war in the 1990s, Macko says he has now dedicated his life to art and wood.

 As Macko notes in the article, this particular idea came to him as he struggled with the challenge of discarded gum — and an elegant solution to that problem:

The idea of a chewing-gum pillar came to him after he realised many people just did not know what to do with their chewing gum and threw it into the street. Now, they can just stick it onto the artistic pillar.

Split residents and tourists can see his work in the city centre.

Macko’s aim was to offer them a simple, unique, educational and ecological place for disposal of their gum.

He said the chewing-gum pillar required regular, special disinfection and frequent replacement by a new one.

He claimed the pillar was not only a practical but also an environmental solution because cleaning streets full of chewing gum was very expensive and required dangerous chemicals.

Upwards, Somewhere, originally uploaded by JohnnyBallgame.

My pet hate - blobs of chewing gum on the ground, originally uploaded
by louisahennessyvikinghorns (away for a week).

D+H, originally uploaded by meighan w..

IMAGE: Gum-Out

The aptly named  Gum-Out, with its chewinggumremoval.com site (a mission statement in a website URL!), proposes to eliminate the somewhat ineffective methods of freezing, humble ice cubes and chemicals from the gum removal process. Instead, with syringes, spatulas and gloves, this new product aspires to consistently and effectively break “the bond between the chewing gum and the surface” (to which it’s stuck).

The British website for the company includes testimonials, ordering details (one kit is good for up to 125 discarded pieces of chewing gum), the benefits of Gum-Out, its uses on clothing, in transport, the home, in leisure and entertainment venues, and in schools. As one testimonial on the site notes, the Backwell School in Bristol has happily experienced many of those potential benefits in their trial use of the product:

As a result of your recent mail shot we purchased a batch of your product, GUM-OUT. I must say with slight misgivings, as most gum removal products are not as good as claimed.

However, the problem with gum being a serious nuisance, we decided to give GUM-OUT a try. To our surprise the product certainly handles the job very well even on hard, stamped-in gum. We have used your GUM-OUT on carpets, curtains and children’s clothes with great success and will certainly re-order when supplies run short. May I also add that GUM-OUT is easy and reasonably clean to use.

With many thanks from the cleaning and care taking staff,

Yours faithfully,

Caretaker, Backwell School, Brisol, UK

 
Urban Messages, originally uploaded by FaceMePLS.

IMAGE: Enfield Independent.

Ben Wilson, a British artist who turns discarded gum into artwork (we’ve featured him before in AndrewsGumWorld) recently lost his jacket in Enfield, Middlesex and the local newspaper, the Independent published a plea last week for its return:

Ben Wilson, 45, of Muswell Hill, was devastated to discover he had walked off without his fluorescent jacket when touching up unsightly underfoot deposits at the base of the fountain in the market square.

“That jacket has been keeping the rain and snow off me for the past four and a half years and has people’s tags and signatures on” he said.

Anyone who finds the jacket is encouraged to contact the reporter of the article, Hannah Crown.

Chewing Gum Art in Venice, originally uploaded by litmanlive.

Chewing Gum Posters, originally uploaded by Phil McGrady.

Baby Ruth Gum, originally uploaded by Waffle Whiffer.