This bracelet is an ironic commentary on the use of gold granulation for contemporary jewelry. Gold granulation carries a message about “value” through the use of intrinsically valuable material and an archaic technique.
Today, a more familiar sense of value is created through brand name products. The name promises to enhance the consumer’s life by association with the product. Buying a premium brand of oatmeal labeled with “Uniformity of Granulation” (as displayed on the bracelet) identifies the buyer as part of an elite group; those who can afford “uniformity.” I can afford quality, therefore I am elite. In a society so transitory and hyper-marketed one may wonder who we really are. Is our only sense of value defined by our material culture?
