Hand Sanitizer
Bath & Body Works, LLC, 2020
Plastic, hand sanitizer
12.5 x 4.5 x 2 cm
Purchased from Bath & Body Works, 2020
Personal collection
Although perceived as an everyday object many people have hanging around their homes, this has become a well-known symbol of the crisis occurring this year. During the devastating events that COVID-19 has brought upon the globe, schools have shut down, businesses have suffered, families are quarantined in their homes and, most unfortunately, the virus is affecting the health of millions of people worldwide. This object is truly a reminder of what is happening right now and what is to come in the future. Though we carry this everyday item with us to grocery stores that are now closed down and monitored, to pump gas, and to any daily activity that we have taken for granted, it is a constant reminder of the fear that people have surrounding this pandemic.
National and international media bring warnings and information about viruses that have affected lives in the past, such as The Spanish Flu and The Black Death Many of us, however, have never experienced such threats first-hand. Though the virus at this point in time is not as devastating as those in the past, we are seeing a rise in those that it affects and the severity of what was originally introduced as simply an “everyday flu/” In the 21st century, everything is available at the tips of our fingers through a Google search. That knowledge has also created a sense of scarcity, creating almost apocalyptic scenarios as store inventories are completely exhausted and the public hoards supplies, food, and cleaning products in preparation for the worst.
At this point, the future is uncertain, but objects such as a simple Bath & Body Works hand sanitizer signifies collective efforts to reduce the impact of the virus and to flattening the curve, like isolation itself. The world has gone into global shut down in many regards, leaving the public only to fear what is to come for the future. So, although at a glance this object may appear to be an incidental object and simple accessory seen commonly on a middle schoolers backpack, it is an item of our time and a symbol for a national and global event that will be written about in the history books.
Callie Gibson