A few years back I was in Seattle for a conference and decided to visit Pike Place Market to take in it's unique atmosphere and see the Gum Wall, which covers a 15' x 50' section of the alley side of the Market Theater. Started in 1993, the Gum Wall officially became a tourist attraction in 1999. Some people have made small works of art out of the gum while others have placed coins in the sticky, sweet blobs. In late 2015 the Pike Place Market Preservation & Development Authority did a total scrub down of the wall to prevent the sugar from further eroding the bricks and mortar. It took 130 hours to complete and the displaced gum weighed in excess of 2,350 pounds. Almost immediately, gum was re-added to the wall.
After making a few images, I stayed around to watch the responses of other visitors to this sticky shrine. A group of three mothers and six kids entered through a side stairwell. The kids appeared to be between 8 and 14 and their first glance at the mass of gum resulted in a collective, "COOL!" The moms' response was a synchronized, "Don't touch anything!"
