Chewed Matter

Chewed Matter are colourful ceramic chewing gums flash between the trees, in the cracks of the bark. They humorously mark our presence in this natural environment. Chewing gum is an everyday, mundane and pop-cultural object – we usually chew it without giving it much thought. But behind this seemingly artificial form lies a natural origin: chewing gum comes from the latex of the sapodilla tree (Manilkara zapota), a plant whose sap has been chewed for centuries. We chew something artificial-looking from nature, something seemingly worthless, which activates processes in the body, stimulates saliva production and changes the intestinal flora. The oversized sculptures, inserted into the crevices of the forest, transfer this automatic gesture into the landscape: the soft in the hard, the cultural in the natural, the transitory in the permanent. The work invites us to pause and reflect, encouraging us to recognise how even everyday actions leave traces in our environment.