The Political Power of Glitter

"Last summer, I did face painting at a block party in my Brooklyn neighborhood. In the sweltering August humidity, I rendered pink butterflies and Spiderman webs on tiny, sticky faces; unsurprisingly, my designs didn't last very long in the bouncy castle. Except for the glitter. For weeks, I found it in my hair, on my cats, in my sink, and in random corners of the house, migrating to and fro like dandelion fuzz."

"A sparkly knick-knack in a San Francisco souvenir shop inspired Francesco Dama to trace the history and enduring power of glitter, whose fascinating backstory involves a German immigrant, artificial snow, and the word "schnibbles." Today, in contemporary art, the incandescent dust often "allows marginalized racial and ethnic communities to push back against imposed stereotypes," Dama writes, as in Quil Lemons's 2017 photographic series, where "shimmer becomes a visual insistence on visibility.""

Last summer an anecdote describes face painting at a Brooklyn block party where glitter persisted for weeks, migrating around the house like dandelion fuzz. A sparkly souvenir in San Francisco inspired tracing of glitter's history, including a German immigrant, artificial snow, and the word "schnibbles." Glitter now appears in contemporary art as a democratizing medium that often allows marginalized racial and ethnic communities to push back against imposed stereotypes; Quil Lemons's 2017 photographs use shimmer as a visual insistence on visibility. A "Wall of Tears" lists 18,500 children killed in Gaza, and a Mona Lisa image redaction in Epstein files raises questions about DOJ redaction criteria.

Read at Hyperallergic