User:Isobelpowell/Gum Wall

Note
This is a note to say that I am no longer editing this sandbox page. The information that I have collected has been moved over to the live version. Thanks! Isobelpowell (talk) 06:09, 14 February 2022 (UTC)

The Market Theater Gum Wall is a brick wall covered in used chewing gum located in an alleyway in Post Alley under Pike Place Market in Downtown Seattle. It is more specifically located at 1428 Post Aly, Seattle, WA, 98101. Visitors must travel down a ramp to the left of the "Public Market Center" clock sign at the entrance of the market in order to reach the wall. Much like Bubblegum Alley in San Luis Obispo, California, or the Maid-Rite Gum Wall in Greenville Ohio, the Market Theater Gum Wall is a local landmark. It is a huge Tourist Attraction for the city of Seattle. There are often hundreds of visitors that locate the wall on the weekends. Parts of the gum coating alongside the walls are several inches thick, and the coating is 15 ft high along a 50 ft section.

History
The wall is located next to the box office for the Market Theater. The tradition began around 1993 when patrons of Unexpected Productions' Seattle Theatresports stuck gum to the wall and placed coins in the gum blobs. Eventually, a passerby took the coins from the wall, leaving the gum formation by itself. Theater workers scraped the gum away twice, but eventually gave up after market officials deemed the gum wall a tourist attraction around 1999. Some people created small works of art out of gum.

Before the wall was cleaned, a majority of the gum pieces would have lasted for years on the wall. Colder climates usually have no affect on the gum's movement, yet sun and warm temperatures can allow gum to melt and droop over any hanging surfaces.

Recognition
It was named one of the top 5 germiest tourist attractions in 2009, second to the Blarney Stone. The Washington state governor, Jay Inslee, said it is his "favorite thing about Seattle you can't find anywhere else". The Gum Wall is located at the start of the Ghost Tour, and also a popular site with wedding photographers. Oftentimes, visitors create declarations of love out of gum, making for a comparison of the gum wall to other romantic spots such as the Pont des Art in Paris.

The 2009 film Love Happens, featuring Jennifer Aniston, has a scene that was shot at the Gum Wall.

Many accredit the success of the attraction to the way that it's shared on social media. The #gumwall hashtag has over 233,000 posts on Instagram.

Cleaning
On November 3, 2015, it was announced by the Pike Place Market Preservation & Development Authority that for the first time in 20 years the great attraction gum wall would be receiving a total scrub down for maintenance and steam cleaning, to prevent further erosion of the bricks on the walls from the sugar in the gum. Prior to this, it had only ever been spot-cleaned in areas where gum had been placed in prohibited areas.

Because the announcement of the cleaning caused a lot of commotion amongst Seattle residents and fans of the tourist spot, Pike Place Market officials launched a photo contest in which fans were encouraged to share their own photos and memories with the wall online.

Work began on November 10 and took 130 hours to complete, with over 2,350 lbs of gum removed and disposed of. The work, done by local company Cascadian Building Maintenance, was figured to cost about $4,000 for completion. The temperature of the steam machines reached up to 280°F, essentially delaminating the gum pieces and ensuring that the low pressure would not harm the bricks. The gum was then disposed of in the garbage.

After the cleaning was finished, gum began to be re-added to the wall almost immediately, as there were no preventative measures to prohibit sticking gum to the newly cleaned wall. Some of the new additions were memorials to the November 2015 Paris attacks.

Controversy
Some argue that the gum wall encourages litter as visitors usually stick items like cigarette butts or gum wrappers along the wall. There were also prior complaints that the gum was being tracked into nearby businesses and that it attracts rats in the alley. Bars and restaurants located on the opposite side of the attraction tried to keep the gum away from their properties by posting signs that read 'No Gum', however this tactic was not successful.

As art
The gum wall is an example of Participatory Art and Conceptual Art.

Although officials of the Pike Place Market defined the concern around gum affecting the brick wall, some may see the participation in sticking up the substance as attributing to collective action. Many may classify the spot as a 'collective art' piece, where something colloquially bad has been transformed into artwork.

The wall is also usually decorated with physical copies of some artists' work that they stick up. Given that the wall is rarely cleaned, many practice graffiti art on spots where there is less gum and more visibility.