Pill World

Pill World

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Pill World
pills on a globe
by Bonnie Heller
As we prepare for the new year and our dedication to
personal change and global reform, the choices of what to address are immense.

There is, of course, no established link between COVID-19
and climate change. Yet scientists tell us
that the way we are altering our planet makes the spread of
disease more likely. Fighting climate change,
the COVID-19 virus, addressing racial injustice and the stunning lack of national leadership
all seem to merge together.

Our earth is sick and we, the people have allowed it to be so.

To create the globe, friends and family have generously donated their outdated and strangely attractive medicines.

The globe is covered with colorful pills, a symbol that might seem curative. But these medicines are expired, unusable, not adequate to heal anything. Something else is needed. The metaphor is obvious. The cure is the greatest challenge –and opportunity-- of our time.

"My first memory of 'making art' was when, as a child of 5 or 6, I would create small paper objects, place them in a brown paper bag and insist that all visitors to our home put their hand in the bag and take, with my compliments, one of those objects.

I knew then instinctively as a child what I know now as an adult—that quite simply, art is a gift.

It is a gift for the artist who is able to struggle with the very basic questions of life and share visually, those explorations and it is a gift to the viewer, who gets to see through another’s eyes and experience, a reflected or challenging image of their worldview.

Recently I have been utilizing old globes as canvases. Surface materials include luminous beads, garbage, expired tablets and pills, plastic fasteners, and a variety of other media all in the name of climate change and human responsibility."

Bonnie Heller lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.

To see more of her art: www.Trafficzoneart.com and www.bonnieheller.com

email Bonnie at bonheller @ gmail.com; (remove the spaces)

Room
1 Room
2 Room
3 Room
4

Exhibition Rooms

As we prepare for the new year and our dedication to personal change and global reform, the choices of what to address are immense. There is, of course, no established link between COVID-19 and climate change. Yet scientists tell us that the way we are altering our planet makes the spread of disease more likely. Fighting climate change, the COVID-19 virus, addressing racial injustice and the stunning lack of national leadership all seem to merge together. Our earth is sick and we, the people have allowed it to be so. To create the globe, friends and family have generously donated their outdated and strangely attractive medicines. The globe is covered with colorful pills, a symbol that might seem curative. But these medicines are expired, unusable, not adequate to heal anything. Something else is needed. The metaphor is obvious. The cure is the greatest challenge –and opportunity-- of our time.
		"My first memory of 'making art' was when, as a child of 5 or 6, I would create small paper objects, place them in a brown paper bag and insist that all visitors to our home put their hand in the bag and take, with my compliments, one of those objects. I knew then instinctively as a child what I know now as an adult—that quite simply, art is a gift. It is a gift for the artist who is able to struggle with the very basic questions of life and share visually, those explorations and it is a gift to the viewer, who gets to see through another’s eyes and experience, a reflected or challenging image of their worldview. Recently I have been utilizing old globes as canvases. Surface materials include luminous beads, garbage, expired tablets and pills, plastic fasteners, and a variety of other media all in the name of climate change and human responsibility."