Lying on a footbridge spanning the Thames, Ben Wilson is finalizing his latest creation: a miniature painting made… on chewing gum stuck to the steel structure. This 57-year-old Englishman has been traveling around London for fifteen years to sculpt and repaint the scraps of chewing gum thrown by passers-by.
Ben Wilson pic.twitter.com/qztW0GBHGJ
- ˙ʞɥ (@hikotter) February 11, 2020More than an unusual hobby, it is “environmental art”, he explains. “It is sad to see the impact that human beings can have on their environment and the amount of waste we create. So I find it good to be able to create something that comes from the environment rather than imposing something on the environment, ”he says, brush in hand.
Miniature performances
His creations, barely larger than a 50 pence coin, are scattered all over the Millennium Bridge but also all around Saint Paul. Unless you look very closely, they go completely unnoticed. Many are miniature representations of the cathedral which overlooks them. Others are very colorful, almost psychedelic drawings, often signed and dated.
🎨 VIDEO: In London on #MilleniumBridge, Ben Wilson creates "environmental art" by sculpting and painting the pieces of chewing gum thrown by passers-by. #chewinggumartist
🎥 @lindaabiassi / AFPTV / #AFP
Discover the video ▶ ️ https://t.co/LXUXqLh6Ky pic.twitter.com/2fuagaj5UK
Originally from North London, Ben Wilson began his career carving wood, before turning to chewing gum. Over the years, his unusual hobby has earned him the nickname "chewing gum man". Most passersby, accustomed to seeing this eccentric man in a suit stained with paint, lying on the Millennium Bridge whatever the season, approach him, ask him questions or take a picture of him.
"I transform waste into art"
"Throwing chewing gum is a thoughtless act, I want to turn it into something positive," says Ben Wilson. One of his challenges when painting is not to touch the bridge, at the risk of being arrested by the authorities for degradation.
"It is the person who spit the chewing gum who is guilty of degradation," he says. “I transform waste into art, it's a form of recycling. He claims to have painted "thousands and thousands" of chewing gum and prides himself on having disseminated this "hidden art" everywhere on the sidewalks and bridges of the capital.
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- Unusual
- Chewing gum
- London
- Artist
- Art