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It was Oscar Wilde who once wrote, “All art is quite useless.” Of course, he was referring to the fact that art doesn’t have to serve any purpose other than just being itself.

Wilde believed that life should imitate art, therefore to give art a function other than beauty would sully its purpose. So it would be interesting to see what he’d think about French street artist Ememem’s beautiful works of art.

Photo: Instagram/ememem.flacking

The street artist has come to be known as “the pavement surgeon” in his hometown of Lyon, France because his artistry revolves around cracks and potholes in the streets and sidewalks.

Ememem’s art transforms these eyesores into colorful mosaics. It’s beautiful and functional, and he uses what’s called a “flacking” technique. This term is derived from the french word flaque, which means puddle.

Photo: Instagram/ememem.flacking

Using his technique, Ememem fills in the city’s cracks and crevices using a variety of materials like ceramics, wood, and bitumen. He will fix anything from a tiny crack to a giant pothole, and it isn’t just the streets of his hometown that feature his artistic repairs. His colorful mosaics can also be found in other European cities such as Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, and Milan.

Photo: Instagram/ememem.flacking

According to The Guardian, Ememem said, “I’m just a sidewalk poet, a son of bitumen. My work is the story of the city, where cobblestones have been displaced; a truck from the vegetable market tore off a piece of asphalt. Each becomes a flack.”

Photo: Instagram/ememem.flacking

He has currently undertaken a project to flack the construction site of the new Grand Paris Express metro. This project is one that has been funded by Société du Grand Paris, and his work will be on display there for free until the 31st of August 2021.

More of work his work will be featured at an upcoming exhibition opening June 2nd at Spraying Board in Lyon, as well as a showing at La Galerie Italienne on June 8th in Paris.

Photo: Instagram/ememem.flacking

Ememem is on Instagram where you can follow his work. You can also check out his website for more information.