A muselet is the wire cage that prevents the cork of a carbonated drink from emerging under the pressure of its contents. It derives its name from the French ‘museler’, to muzzle. When the bottle is uncorked the wire loses its restraining power. Abandoned on streets and run over by cars, flattened muselets embark on an afterlife of fresh hope in the form of a pendant. Each of these party remnants, found by MacGuffin on the streets of Amsterdam during the lockdowns, recalls a moment of euphoric release. Starting out as identical objects, the muselets fulfil their sole function by deforming into unique individuals that tell their own tales of free speech.
