When you go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art there are iconic pieces that you expect to see. One is the Temple of Dendur which consumes a large gallery. In front of it is a pool of water that people normally toss coins into. It’s a site for Instagram worthy photos. On October 3rd however, it was turned into a space of protest. Floating on top of the pool were pill bottles. The photographer Nan Goldin staged a protest to call attention to the ways the owners of the pharmaceutical company that produces OxyContin spend their money. They help fund large art institutions, but Goldin is asking them to financially help combat the opioid epidemic. The gesture of throwing pill bottles instead of coins into a pool of water is effortless. But it’s a gesture that makes you think about how large companies are throwing away their money instead of supporting the causes which problems they have helped to start.
