“I used to ask people ‘Where’s the local glitter factory?’ and no one could ever tell me because, in
fact, very few people knew where glitter comes from. Subsequently I found out it was invented on
a cattle farm in New Jersey in 1934 where you can still buy it today. At one point I found out that
glitter, kilo for kilo, is a drug-like commodity. You can go to Vienna, buy two kilos of glitter for the
same price as a tiny vial in Stockholm. It has a very under-exploited commodity status. Part of
this is to do with the fact that very few people could ever tell me if glitter was made by Chinese
children or was a by-product of the arms trade. Maybe it was an innocent material made by well-
paid artisans. To this day, I’ve still never been to a glitter factory. I can’t tell you if people are
happy in glitter factories, whether glitter factories are organised collectively or a “Glitter Board”
regulates them.”
Artist Liam Gillick on one of his favorite materials
WHY IS THIS SHIT FORMATTED SO STRANGE?
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