Above: Mosaic sidewalk patch by Ememem in Marseille
I’m just a sidewalk poet…. My work is the story of the city, where cobblestones have been displaced.”
Street artist Ememem, interviewed by Arnesia Young for My Modern Met
This mosaic underfoot in Marseille caught my attention, with no expectation of future encounters. Then we started bumping into similar tileworks in Lyon, where they transform annoying potholes, sidewalk trip-zones and missing chunks from buildings clipped by careless drivers into works of art.
As it turns out, the artist, who refers to himself as Ememem, is a native of Lyon. Ememem terms his work “flacking.” Flaque means puddle in French, but, instead of puddling, his hole-plugging repairs assume the role of a puddle-displacement public service.
With no permits acquired, the stealth tiler applies his utilitarian craft in the middle of the night. His potential “canvases” are limitless, as what urban setting is without an over-abundance of cracks? As flacking checks off one of their Sisyphean chores, city maintenance workers respectfully opt to leave the unauthorized art untouched.
Above: Ememem mosaic patches in Lyon, France
I thought we spotted a fair amount of his handiwork in Lyon, each urban intervention bringing a smile to my face. That was before I learned the number of his patches in his hometown approaches 400.
Later to our surprise, one popped up in front of us in a sidewalk in the Kadikoy neighborhood of Istanbul. They now formed a thread tidily tying our travels together.
In Amsterdam, our final stop on this spring trip, I fully expected to find more of Ememem’s playful mosaics. Scour as I might as we wandered, I failed to spot a one. I was as disappointed as a child unable to spy Waldo in a crowd in her book.
Wherever we journey afoot now, I’ll be on the watch. If you find any, let me know.
Postcards from Barton Springs 