CHARLOTTA RUTH
CHEWING - A pop-up street intervention and meditation on love.
Old, spit-out and stepped on chewing gums nearly fused with the stone or concrete are cut into heart shapes. While carving and reshaping the chewing gums, the action becomes a projection surface that interrupts the flow of people and every now and then stimulates a conversation.
The documentation was made during an intervention in Dubrovnik October 2025. The quotes are from comments and small conversations with by-passers.
Photos: Marko Ercegović
-I thought you are removing that but you left a heart over.
-Yes, I left a heart over. I'm chewing on something.
-Oh very nice... very many hearts already!
Oh, hvala ti, prekrasno je.
Tako si strpljiv.
-Can I ask you something? Why are you doing this... it's chewing gum...
-I thought it's nicer to turn them into hearts...
-Ok, but how can you check that it's chewing gum?
-I was checking a lot before, so now I always know when it's a chewing gum.
-Really?
-Almost all the black spots are chewing gums.
-Is it allowed?
-I think it's allowed to scratch away chewing gum. On this square I did many hearts so I hope it's allowed...
-It's better with hearts... yes!
Ce sont des cœurs!
The shaping of chewing gums was originally inspired by my photo collection of found hearts and initiated secretly in the third district of Vienna in 2024. In this year I made public space investigations supported by a working grant from the City of Vienna. CHEWING has also found its' way into workshops at for instance brut Vienna.
-you can think of someone then I can make the next one for that person, you don't have to tell me who it is.
-I have to catch a flight.
-You don't have to stay, you can just think about that person while walking.
-Oh, thank you very much.
