Gum 2001

Martine Jacobs · 2007-01-01T00:00:00Z

Title: GUM Artist: Martine Jacobs Medium: Digital art, circa 2000 Description: GUM is an original digital artwork by Martine Jacobs, created around the turn of the millennium. Set against a backdrop of brightly packaged chewing gum brands—Orbit, Juicy Fruit, Doublemint—the piece features a stylized figure rendered in vivid, unnatural colors. The person appears both absorbed by and alienated from the candy display, blurring the line between consumer and commodity. Jacobs explores themes of identity, consumption, and postmodern fragmentation. The digital manipulation distorts the figure into a synthetic presence, suggesting a loss of individuality in a world saturated with branding and desire. The work captures the spirit of a transitional era, where nostalgia and irony collide, and culture begins to dissolve into image and impulse. GUM is not just a portrait—it’s a mirror held up to the early 21st century.