And The Winner Is...

The results are in, and the winner of the What Is This contest is ..........

LAUREN!!

Lauren said "I think it looks like the band of a really wide watch or chainmail" which has been officially delcared by the judges to be close enough. This is actually a covering wrapped around a support pole at the Mall of America. (The camera is looking up the pole to the ceiling.) It appears to be constructed in a chainmail-like manner, very much like a watch band, but on a larger scale. Each of those metal segments is about 2 inches long.

Congratulations Lauren, you win ... nothing really.