Of horses and men

Alyssa Bilyeu

Well, here we are, still plugging away at our 2020 bingo cards. Don’t forget about the free space, just a few more rounds and we’ll have bingo! Of course, I’m not sure how many more rounds our collective-psyche can take before we break. The past few years have worn us down and divided us physically and socially.

It is exhausting to carry on, to rally up hope when the average day feels like the end of days.

This is my moment of despair. Take my hand, so we may bear witness and move forward together.

This body of work started as a personal project for me to process the events of the last few years. The concept of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, from the Christian Bible, was an appropriately dreary metaphor for our current trajectory. Skulls, empty plates, and barren landscapes emphasize the feeling of languishing while connection is just out of reach. They remind us of the fragility of life, and how quickly our actions can have a cascading and permanent impact.

The first horseman represents Conquest and Death. Maybe it’s time to stop fighting over dead creatures in the ground, and start caring more about the living creatures currently on it? The next horseman, War, comes wielding a sword and inciting slaughter. In our modern day, the threat of nuclear attack is much more realistic than death by a sword, and it will wipe away everything we hold dear. Third, Famine, slowly robs individuals of their lives through inaccessibility. One of the breadbaskets of the world is currently under attack, and the suffering there will be felt worldwide. Lastly, Pestilence. This horseman comes in the form of lingering illness and little masks that will litter our earth for years to come.