Call it art or call it a critique of society's bad habits.
Either description works for Stacy Asher, an assistant professor of graphic design, and Dohyoung Sung, a graduate student in the School of Art. Along with about 50 of their sculpture and design studio students, the two added touches of hot pink flair to the normally drab Court Street sidewalks Thursday morning.
The motive behind the madness was to cover the unsightly black spots -which actually are pieces of discarded chewing gum -that blemish the sidewalks.
The gum is an eyesore
said Andy Stone, director of the City of Athens Street Department. We have grappled over the years over ways to deal with it.
Asher, Sung and the students attempted to remedy this situation -or at least call attention to it -by covering the spots with non-toxic florescent pink spray paint.
Volunteer students began making their marks at 4 a.m. Thursday and the entire project took about an hour, Asher said. Graffiti trails adorned either side of the street, beginning at Court Street's intersection with East Union Street and ending at Carpenter Street.
The group got permission from Athens Mayor Ric Abel and the Athens Police Department to paint on the sidewalks, Asher said.
Catching a glimpse of the graffiti at this point is unlikely. Asher called the project a temporary experiment -the paint washed off after a few days of rain.
When they first learned that the spots on the sidewalk are chewing gum, Asher said she and Sung were disgusted.
I find it sad that people throw gum on the sidewalk without considering the facts Asher said. It gets stuck on people's shoes and it is in itself very filthy.
The gum may be gross, but it did make an interesting pattern, Asher admitted. She chose pink paint, which is commonly used for marking, for an artistic piece that created awareness of how much gum is carelessly thrown on the sidewalk.
The gum is sort of symbolic of how our culture thinks about their actions Asher said. It won't ever go away. People are not even considering the consequences.
Asher and Sung said that most people were very supportive of the project.
Anything that bolsters awareness of how much the student body litters is a good thing
said an employee at Perk's Coffee House & Roastery, 49 S. Court St.
However, Asher did cite one complaint from a merchant on Court Street worried that paint sprayed under an awning would not be washed away by the rain. Asher said she and her students cleaned up the paint in front of that store.
Although the graffiti was only temporary, Asher, Young and the students hope the message behind the project will linger in people's minds.
I hope it helps people to look at the world a little more deeply
Asher said.
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Court Street sidewalks were spray painted by graphic design and sculpture students Thursday morning. The project sought to draw attention to the street's many chewing gum stains.
