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I spent last night in a crowded cafe called the Shadow Lounge here in Pittsburgh watching the presidential debate.  In between some of on the topic responses there were several exchanges that stuck with me because of their obscure value. One of these was the dialogue that began with McCain talking about his “bracelet” given to him by a mother that wanted him to say he would help the US win the war in Iraq. McCain did not show the bracelet, but suggested that he had it on. Obama responded with the fact that he too had a bracelet, given to him by a mother who wanted him to help make sure no mothers had to go through the pain of loosing a child or having that child be in a dangerous situation. He also suggested that he had a bracelet on, fumbled at his cuff, but never showed anything.

Hmmm. All of this “bracelet  for a cause” wearing struck me- a trend that began with Neil Armstrong bracelets has become so prolific that every cause seems to crank out these plastic testemants. It is not only fashionable to wear a proclamation in jewelry form, but in last night’s debate it was a crucial match in stakes raised by McCain.

The fact that each was indeed wearing the a bracelet and that this was such a given that neither bothered to present the mentioned oh-so important accessory served to further the idea that yes, of course these candidates participate in the prevailing ideologies of arm band trend.

To keep up with the times, today’s project involved the completion of an online order form for a letter charm bracelet. (seen above)

This artwork acknowledges the bracelet trend not only as a form of expression of ideals, but as a social necessity of declarative accessory. I’d hate to be caught with a bracelet that didn’t say anything!!!

Total amount of time: 2hrs

Cost of materials: $13.00

Amount of fun had (scale of 1-10):4