With the passing of O.J. Simpson two weeks ago, the subject of gloves resurfaced in the cultural discourse. As a key piece of evidence in the Simpson trial, a pair of gloves held the key to innocence or guilt.
In their sculptural form, the lost and tossed gloves below, photographed by Arnold Schwartzman, have a unique history that we’ll never know. What happened to them? How can something be so functional one minute, and so ephemeral the next? These are not simply ethereal articles but evidence of human helplessness, requiring a hand to make them whole. It’s sad to consider that these bits of apparel no longer function in the literal sense—but they’re beautiful in their disfunctionality.
They beg various questions: Who owned them? Were they used to help or hurt others? Did they have special significance to their owners? Is their existence now forever relegated to the city’s landfills?
“Armed with my trusty iPhone, I keep my eyes peeled on the sidewalk, which is littered with post-COVID refuse,” Schwartzman says of the collection. But he’s doing more than taking random photos—he’s compiling a record of what now has purpose anew thanks to his lens.
