TOLEDO, OH.- Pill Spill, a floor installation by Beverly Fishman, is on view through September within the cavity between the walls of the Toledo Museum of Art Glass Pavilion®. Not only do the building’s glass walls make viewing the installation possible, they are integral to the work.

The installation contains more than 120 unique glass capsules, ranging in size from 6 to 15 inches, placed in the glass-enclosed spaces along the Parkwood Avenue entrance to the building. Pill Spill treats the Glass Pavilion as a “body” by releasing capsules into the curved glass hollows between its exterior and interior glass walls, transforming them into an architectural circulatory system. The installation was created as part of the Museum’s Guest Artist Pavilion Project (GAPP). As 2010 GAPP artist-in-residence, Fishman worked with Glass Pavilion staff to execute her vision.

For more than 20 years, Fishman’s largely abstract work has explored our relationship to science and medicine in a variety of different media. Mixing optical patterns with vibrant colors and representational elements taken from pharmaceutical and scientific imaging systems, her paintings, sculptures and works on paper raise questions about the relationship between technology, our bodies and our minds.

The capsule is used in this installation as an abstract module through which constantly changing color and pattern combinations are created, according to the artist. By their position on the floor, the fragile objects also contest the preciousness of their materials. Their strewn and accumulated configurations help blur the boundaries between interior and exterior spaces.

The artist will talk about her work with Glass Pavilion and curatorial staff during a panel discussion at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 16 in the Museum’s GlasSalon. Free and open to the public, the program is made possible by members of the Toledo Museum of Art and the Ohio Arts Council.