Anonda Bell

​"I don’t believe in wasting anything!"
John D. Rockefeller

This work is from the series, "Throwaway Living", looking at the effects of petro-chemical plastics on the environments in which we live.  Urban mythology suggests that the first of these plastics resulted from John D. Rockefeller viewing plumes of flame and smoke whilst surveying his Standard Oil processing plant in the 1930s.  As it goes, he asked, “What’s burning?”, and it was explained to him that the company was burning off ethylene gas, a byproduct of the refining process. To which he proclaimed, “I don’t believe in wasting anything!” and “Figure out something to do with it!” And thus synthetic plastics, originating in the lab were brought into existence.   My artwork features 'plastic bottles' of the nondescript type lurking in homes everywhere.  Except these versions are made with clay (the earliest material used to form vessels created by humans) and a mycelium counterpart (mycelium is the hyphae, vegetative part of the mushroom, networks of fine filaments grown together joining pulverized hemp shards into a solid mass).  This material is not-new, but contemporary applications are expanding as it is viewed as a possible environmentally friendly heir to synthetic plastic. 
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N E W S

Heading back to SVA's Bio-Art Residency for a summer intensive experience in the Lab - plotting and planning what I would like to creature, print, carve, grow, fester, decay, dry, heat, and cool. 

Please feel free to stop by 335 West 16th Street, Fifth Floor on Wednesday June 11 from 6pm onwards for the Open Studios. 

Free program, open to all.

Instagram #anondabellart​​