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art
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2021-03-02
Art installation honors thousands of Arizonans who’ve died of COVID-19
Artist Kristina Libby and the Arizona nonprofit Marked by COVID teamed up to create a COVID-19 memorial. The memorial features a digital art piece showing flower petals falling from a rose. Each petal represents one person, and every two seconds represents one day. Libby also started the Floral Heart Project, another flower art project honoring COVID-19 victims. -
2020-05-27
Together for What's to Come
A mural painted in Vancouver, British Columbia, that was meant to maintain a sense of morale during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. -
2020-03-28
B.I.G Changes
During Quarantine, I began my online small business. I took this opportunity to share my art with the world and make it accessible to people who are looking to buy. I started with this painting that was immediately sold and that is what made me start my own art page. -
2020-12-13
Isolation's Fruit
Collaborative risograph art zine from ASU ART 394 Fall 2020 about Covid-19. -
2021-02-25
Creating Art in a Pandemic, Occidental College
This article captures ways that Occidental College has adapted to the pandemic by modifying performance, exhibits, and classes. -
2021-02-25
Floral Heart Project comes to Milwaukee on March 1 day of COVID-19 mourning
Originally an art project, the Floral Heart Project has morphed into a memorial for those that have died of COVID-19. The project is going to Milwaukee on March 1st to install a heart-shaped floral wreath at the Museum Park Center. -
2021-02-23
Community quilts will commemorate stories of the COVID-19 pandemic
The Cameron Art Museum and the Advocacy Project have teamed up to display quilts made by people around the world. These quilts depict the struggles their makers have faced during COVID-19. The museum is encouraging families to make their own COVID-19 quilt squares and return them to the museum. Returned squares will be made into a quilt that will be displayed at the museum for a limited time. -
2020-04-04
Mural by Navajo graffiti artist, Ivan Lee
This photo is included as part of an article about the Navajo Nation's fight against COVID-19. -
02/19/2021
Janice Simone Simon Oral History, 2021/02/19
Silver Linings Oral History with Janice Simone Simon -
2021-02-20
Mini Oral History with BZ Smith, 02/20/2021
I recorded a mini oral history with BZ about silver linings and the projects she has been working on during the pandemic. -
2021-02-16
Creatives Meet in The Cloud
During a pandemic, creatives continued to collaborate online through the platform Zoom. In this picture, Jackson Scoggins, William Way, and I (Spencer Bolding) meet and discuss the beginnings of Jackson’s new magazine about a local record label. We spent our first semester interviewing key characters in the creation of Dolfin Records over Zoom, often having to explain the mechanics to those new to the program. After a series of recorded interviews, we put together an in-depth timeline of the beginning of Dolfin Records that will go into our first issue. Creatives will always find a way to create. #HST269 #zoom #localmusic #Dallas #Dolfin #zine #DIY #musicians #art #deepellum #pandemic #creative -
2021-02-09
Artists Reimagine How Covid-19 Will Shape the Art World
In a time when people can't go to museums or concert halls, arts and musicians are improvising. Many are taking part in digital exhibitions and performances. Others are embracing the practice of street art, it always artists to continue creating art and have more exposure to the general population. -
2020-12-06
Thank Goodness for Artistic Friends
When my daughter's birthday arrived this past summer, we realized any in person party was out of the question. Trying to think of what we could possibly do, we reached out to our friend, a part-time artist, and asked if she would mind hosting a virtual painting party for our daughter and three of her friends to do over Zoom. Our friend was amazing, leading the girls in painting a Captain America shield. She made my daughter's birthday quarantine memorable and fun. Three months later, and desperate for ways to make our virtual Girl Scout meetings exciting, I asked if she would consider leading our girls in earning their "Drawing" badge. Not only was she excited, she went above and beyond. Her husband, who does tech work for films (including the Mandalorian) set her up with various camera angles she could toggle back and forth through. She didn't just have the girls copy a picture, she taught them about all the different tools, how to shade, different techniques. Honestly, I learned a lot myself! Though she did this out of the kindness of her heart, I seriously think she should make a career out of this! She was amazing with the girls, they LOVED the meeting and talked about not only how much they learned, but how helpful and patient our special guest teacher was. She really should start an art for kids YouTube channel. One of the greatest things that has come out of this pandemic is the willingness of people to assist and support one another, and use their talents in ways that they may not have thought of before. -
2020-10-26
Who are you?
It has been weird. A time where the words “pandemic” and “quarantine” are not just being used in a book or video game. Isolation is a weird thing too. It is good in moderation, but what now draws the line between too much and too little? An hour can seem like days and a day can seem to be the same over and over again. I have been delving further into art and music as the days pass. It seems strange that sometimes exploring art and music has the same effect as isolation such that time does not seem to exist in the expected way. I sometimes forget that we are in a pandemic when drawing or alone as if it were already in the past. Art and music have always been in my life, so I expanded on them by trying new genres and mediums. It is not always easy to try new things or to be forced into new things. Often times, I did not appreciate or even like what I attempted in art. It would be quite hard to count the number of drawings I have thrown away or canvases I’ve painted over. Somehow, over the course of quarantine, I have found myself to be more critical of the things that I create. Perhaps it is from being isolated which gives me more opportunities to overthink. Perhaps it is the constant comparison to other people on social media. Perhaps my disgust is not a new development at all, but it seems more pertinent since it is difficult to focus on other things. Of course, this disappointment is crawling into other aspects of my life. The drawing is one that I used to think was decent, but I find myself only critiquing it. It depicts a human floating and wrapped partially in fabric. In October of 2020, I erased most of it and tried it again, but the results stayed the same. Art is interpreted on an individual basis, but I personally found it to be about identity. Everyone wearing a mask made me think about who we really are. I have certainly run into people where I did not recognize them at all with a mask. Part of the identification process is how people look and how they act. If we don’t know who they are, do they act differently? Does this make an individual, a different person? -
2021-01-31
Art to be together
These images and accompanying text express emotion of longing to be with loved ones and happiness at finding ways to feel together during prolonged times of separation because of COVID-19. The drawings and paintings were created as a means of spending time with others and creating things, both during quarantine (drawing together via video calls) and in public spaces (chalk painting in a driveway where neighbors passing by might see it). Some of the art was done for mental health, sense of family and community. -
2020-10-19
Olivine and their Art
Sometimes all we have to do in times of stillness is to create, and with some people lucky enough to be granted with a few extra bits of time they create, whether for projects for an art class or for personal reasons, humanity will always be able to communicate complex ideas through the ideography we all know that is art. Olivine is a friend of mine and I wish to share art from all walks of life to this archive to share the story of individual artists and how they speak to us through their art. Whether it be emotion or just an idea for a story, it will always translate between languages and cultures. -
2021-01-26
Pandemic Kindness
The pandemic has caused so much death, destruction, and sadness. I wanted to share something positive that has happened to me during this difficult event. While this begins in tragedy, I promise it turns around... My service dog passed away suddenly from cancer one month after his first birthday. It was April and the virus was spreading rapidly so there were new restrictions being imposed everywhere. I had to go through the process of my dog passing away all on my own and my dog had to spend a lot of the time alone in a cage in the vet's office while I was forced to wait in my car. My mind was plagued with thoughts of my dog long after he had passed. I could no longer ride in my car that I had spent so much of my dog's last hours in. Everything was closed because of the pandemic so I was forced to stay at home and everything in my house reminded me of my dog. I became very depressed and barely came out of my room. I forced myself to get up and get a blanket from the living room and I saw a rock on the table near my daughter's crafts. I don't know what it was, but I just decided to paint one. One had a triangular shape and I turned it into a shark head because it reminded me of a shark tooth. I had never drawn or painted prior to this but I was proud of my work and, at the end of it all, I realized that I had spent hours in my living room! I decided to get up the next day and paint another rock. I did this for a week and once I gathered a small pile, I put a few in my pocket and went for a walk, dropping painted rocks in random places along the way. The rocks had made me so happy at one of the darkest moments of my life and I wanted to spread that feeling to others. The whole thing really taught me how something really small can make a big difference. Painting rocks has helped keep me connected with others during the pandemic. I've found communities of rock artists and we share ideas with one another. I've also discovered I have a talent for drawing and painting and have recently begun taking commissioned art requests. I still make sure to paint plenty of "freebies" and I leave them everywhere from gas pumps to hidden in trees. I am so grateful to be able to spread even a little bit of kindness during this difficult time. -
2021-01-16
Lucid Dreaming
This past year has been a life changing journey for me. I learned a lot, I learned things about myself, and life itself. My mind has been opened up and i now see things in a different way. I see things a way one might not and it even scares people. The photo I uploaded is a drawing i drew. It is of a girl in my dreams. I have the same dream every friday and she’s in it. In the dream she just looks at me from afar and saying absolutely nothing. I’m not even sure what it means, but i know it means something. From ever since I can remember my dreams have been a warning, vision, or lesson. Some people think i’m crazy but I think it’s rather exceptional. Over the pandemic i’ve been learning to not care about other people and just do me. That’s exactly what i’ve been doing and it’s been life changing. I’m finding out who I am as my third eye leads me to experience things in a new way. -
2021-01-22
New Found Art
During quarantine I’ve had a lot of spare time, but wasn't completely sure how to spend it. Most of the time, when I’m not busy with school work, I’d watch Netflix, but that got pretty boring after a while. Recently, however, I’ve picked up a paint brush, a canvas, and some paint and have started painting. I’ve always loved art but constantly found myself making up excuses and never setting aside time to actually paint. These past months have helped me reflect on myself and realize there are more things to do than just sit around and be sad about the current situations in which I have no control over. It's important during these hard times to find something that makes you happy, even if you are not the best at it, so that life in quarantine is a little easier. Even if I would have never thought in a million years the majority of my junior year in high school would be spent inside my house I consider myself lucky as my family and I are healthy and safe. Despite not being able to see my extended family and celebrate holidays or birthdays with them there's always a way to make the most with the people you have. For my mom's birthday, since I couldn’t go out to buy her anything and don’t own a credit card to buy something online, I had to figure out how to give her a special gift during a pandemic. My new found happiness from painting was that special thing, and so I decided to paint my mom a scene from one of her favorite movies “The Karate Kid”. Finding something I enjoy really helped me cope with the instability and unexpected changes during this pandemic. It gave me both a hobby and goal, as I’m motivated to get better at painting. -
2021-01-12
Mariya Takeuchi
With the re-release of Plastic Love onto Spotify, I have been listening to it on repeat for hours on end to help through the melancholic times of the monotony known as these wretched times. This art resonated with me, so thus I submit it along with other art that I feel encapsulates the soul of creative thinkers during this time. -
2021-01-11
Ominous Furbies
This piece of art was done by a Japanese artist during the pandemic. It is of various Furbies in various monochrome settings. -
2021-01-04
1 Person, 1 Brain Full Of Negativity
The pandemic made my thoughts turn into this negativity and the thought of being alone scattered through my mind. It really felt like my anxiety and the pandemic worked together in a way to make me feel horrible and scared. -
2020-11-04
The Harry Styles Cardigan
I'm an artist. That has been my path since I was five years old. It was in 2016 that I narrowed down that path to film. It's been my concentration ever since. I now attend Columbia College University where I study screenwriting. However, the pandemic has allowed me more free time than I have been allowed since I was twelve years old. Due to this, I knew I had to pick up a hobby. It could be anything as long as it made the time pass a bit faster. I tried doing a few different things from learning a new language to reading one of the books that have been collecting dust on my shelf for a year. However, the one hobby that stuck was crochet. I started out with small, easy projects such as sample squares. I then decided to take on something I had been wanting to make for months. The "Harry Styles Cardigan," otherwise known as the JW Anderson cardigan that rock star Harry Styles wore once. I knew it would be hard work, but I was ready for a challenge. The cardigan took me months to make. I started it the last week of August 2020, and I finished it the first week of November 2020. I was so proud of myself and still am. The end product is far from perfect, but I am now hooked on crochet. I can truly say that I love making my own clothing and making things for my loved ones. The craft has brought me so much joy during such a dark time in our world. -
2020-11-12
A snarky mask reminder
Slab City California is a very unique place. I would describe it loosely as being part squatter and snowbird encampment, part artists’ colony, part homesteading community. The one description that is agreed upon, at least by its residents, is that it is the “last free place on earth”. Given this fact, I was a bit nervous to visit, but I was also really excited to check it out and figured that if nobody was wearing masks or social distancing and I wasn’t comfortable, I could just leave. I was very pleasantly surprised therefore when I arrived and found that residents were all taking the pandemic seriously. I stayed away from people as much as possible, as I did everywhere I went and was able to safely enjoy the art. I snapped this picture in East Jesus, an outdoor art museum/sculpture garden, and felt it was a good representation of the general attitude in the area. I think this item illustrates an interesting part of people’s response to covid which is that while there are many people who refuse to take the pandemic seriously, there are also a lot of people who are doing the right thing because they genuinely care about others. Slab City is an unincorporated community with no government and nobody to enforce state mandates. People might get fined if they threw a big party and word got out to someone who could do something about it, but it’s unlikely that there would be consequences. And yet, people were being responsible, Which to me says something significant about the fact that I would say that most people who are wearing masks and social distancing it are doing it not because they are required to, but because it is the right thing to do. -
2002-12-15
Shellsea
Chelsea Campbell explains in a textual conversation that small business struggle with both competitors such as small and big business. Small businesses have been emerging since COVID-19 has begun as a solution for those who have been laid off from their jobs. Chelsea helps to explore the idea that although this is amazing for the small business community it makes it harder for other competitors. Additionally, larger business are able to work around issues that smaller business face such as large shipping cost and difficulty receiving products as they the money and ability to resolve more issues then someone who is attempting to compete with those same standards. Chelsea explain although there is always more room for creativity and entrepreneurship she has had to adjust tactics to become more competitive with other brands even if this is a direct sacrifice for her business. -
2020-04-23
Cardi B Wears a Face Covering in San Antonio
This is a photograph of a graffiti mural depicting the female rapper Cardi B wearing a face mask. This mural was originally painted by a man named Colton Valentine depicting the rapper with no mask, however, it was updated recently this year to adjust to our current global situation. I chose to place this item in the archive because I felt as though it demonstrates the significant roles that celebrities have over my generation under Covid. Many young people look to celebrities for advice and it is incredibly important that said people are setting a proper example by wearing a mask. I enjoyed bringing a different form of creative art into the archival collection with this object. -
2020-11-23
Covid Cat Birthday Card
This is a photograph created by my brother, Domenic Ciampa. Like many others during the time of Covid-19, he has been able to continue his passion for drawing due to the lockdown restrictions. This was a card he made for our mother's birthday during the quarantine. There are three abstractly drawn cats with a funny blurb of text to the right. The text on the card reads, “I washed my hands before creating this... Happy Birthday” I thought this would be a good addition to my mini archive because it is a personal item to me. It also responds to the needs and considerations of my ethical archival collection. This object withstands all of the ethical practices and guidelines which I am following. -
2020-07-06
One Expensive Mask
This is a silk mask with what appears to be the $1200 stimulus check awarded to U.S. citizens during the pandemic. The design was all hand-stitched by a woman named Jennifer Markowitz in Raliegh, North Carolina. This piece is interesting as it is an artwork that overtly displays the moment in time it was made. This item will stand the test of time and be of interest to historians in the future as it illustrates significant aspects of the year 2020. This item displays an important subject of the pandemic, the stimulus check, on the piece of clothing that has become essential, a mask. This creative artwork is practical and clever when representing the times during the Covid-19 pandemic. -
2020-10-29
A Collection of Quarantine Paintings
I am posting this photo because it showcases how I have spent a lot of my time during the pandemic. This photo displays every painting I have created since the beginning of the quarantine. Some of the works shown in the picture are still works in progress and others are completed. Before Covid prevailed and we were sent home in the spring, I had lost interest in painting and had not painted in months. The lockdown that Covid brought on allowed me to slow down and rekindle the love and creativity I had for painting. In this photo, there are 14 paintings, however, I have made more and gave them to friends as gifts. I mainly work with acrylic paint on canvas because I like vibrant colors and solid lines, although, I would like to start experimenting with oil paints soon. Covid-19 brought on many obstacles to a lot of people, but I am grateful that I could reconnect with painting. This object demonstrates the significant rise of creative liberty within my generation under Covid-19. -
2020-12-15
Pride 2020 Through Art: Handmade Garments
As many Pride celebrations were cancelled this year, many members of the LGBT community turned to social media to share how they were celebrating Pride in these strange times. This post displays a handmade crocheted shirt in the colors of the pride flag, made and shared by an individual seeking recognition for the work seeing as she had no celebration to wear it to. This just shows the dedication of the LGBT community to the celebration of Pride, which will be communicated to any future historians studying LGBT history. -
2020-12-15
Pride 2020 Through Art: Queer Media as Lego Minifigures
When I had the idea to focus a mini collection on the expression of sexuality during the pandemic, one of the things that came to mind was Pride 2020. I myself was going to attend the event in Boston this year, however, like much of the United States, the celebration was cancelled. However, I knew that the LGBT community wouldn’t just let June pass by without some celebration. This post from Reddit displays how one individual spent pride month with the goal of turning individuals from queer media into Lego minifigures. Queer characters in movies and television are not all that easy to find, so this individual’s work had the potential to introduce anyone who stumbles upon their posts to queer characters. This in itself amplifies the voices of the LGBT community, by in a way calling for the normalization of queer characters in media, and giving them a way to share their identities through projects they create. -
2020-06-09
The Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles Create Puzzles for the People
At the beginning of June, MOCA updated its online store to include items relevant to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak. I have several screenshots of different puzzles, masks, books, etc. but I thought this one was particularly interesting. In the articles I’ve read about museums creating an effective online presence, the main idea is providing the user an opportunity to engage in a transaction. Here MOCA is giving the user an opportunity to buy a puzzle from them and also engage with their focus on contemporary art. While doing the puzzle, the purchaser will be thinking about MOCA, even on some kind of subconscious level. In a sense this helps to build community and, in the future, will serve as a token of the time spent in quarantine. One day the puzzle will serve as an artifact. To state the obvious, selling puzzles is relevant because at the beginning of quarantine this was an activity a lot of people did. I think for a small time was difficult to get your hands on a puzzle. MOCA is not only providing an online user with the opportunity to engage in a transaction, but it is a relevant transaction. This demonstrates MOCA’s ability to effectively adapt to the changing social landscape. My submission is important to me because in pre-COVID times I loved going to the museum and I think it's great to see how they're still trying to build community. -
2020-12-09
We will rise
So many African Americans are put down or treated different because the color of our skins. Many enslaved and many killed but yet our population arises. I just wanted to get out that we shouldn't be treated differently. We are still human. We don’t understand why this is so we fight with our voices! This pandemic has helped most of our voices get out there. To let the world hear our pain, our struggle. I thank coivid-19 for that. -
2020-11-30
Quarantine Paintings
I decided to upload a picture of some of the paintings that I’ve made over the quarantine. When COVID-19 first started and we all went into quarantine I wondered what I was going to do during all my free time. I love to paint and I almost never had time to dedicate and do it. But now with all of this free time I had no excuse put to getting crafty and painting. As you can tell from this photograph there are a variety of paintings that I made. Some are pretty backgrounds with song lyrics/songs. My favorite one that I painted was the sunset sky with clouds. I also have a couple Disney paintings as well. It was also a huge help to get distracted and get my mind off of everything that was going on in the world. It was also very relaxing. These paintings are just some of the many things that I made during the quarantine. I also started to do embroidery as well as make Mickey ears and many many other crafts. It’s very important to me because it’s one of the ways that I was able to express myself during this weird tough time. I’m very thankful that I was able to find a creative outlet. I was also able to take some time for myself. Painting was my quiet relaxing time. From getting to choose colors, mixing, choosing what to paint. Just the whole process in itself made me feel a little bit better. I remember when quarantine first started that the stores were all running out of paint and canvases so I’m guessing I’m not the only one who came up with the idea of painting during this time. I’m glad people were also able to find outlets and time to relax and just paint. -
2020-11-30
Support the arts in Arizona: Ways to help museums, theaters, galleries during the pandemic
With the arts and museums struggling to stay afloat during COVID-19, a local newspaper suggests ways to support them. -
2020-11-18
How art helps us make sense of COVID-19's incomprehensible toll
Across the country, people have been making public art installations in memory have those that died due to COVID-19. Some of these memorials are meant to help people understand the large scope of death, others are meant to help the creators and viewers start to heal after loss. -
2020-11-16
IAIA 2020 Graduating Senior Virtual Exhibition
Every semester the IAIA campus hosts an exhibition for the graduating seniors. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic the campus was closed and everything moved to an online format. Determined to show the work, the graduating seniors worked with their instuctors, advisors and the gallery director to organize and execute a virtual exhibition. The show was designed and created with the Ortelia software. Although they did not get to exhibit the work in person this interactive exhibition did return some normalcy to the gallery exhibition space. -
2020
Ben S. and his Art
My friend Ben has been creating art ever since lockdown started and continue to make art for his studies and own enjoyment with all the extra free time some have gotten due to COVID-19. Ben is a queer artist who enjoys drawing anything from monsters to people and every iteration inbetween. -
2020-10-18
Documenting Grief: A Mother And Son Grow Closer Despite Loss
As with almost everything, COVID-19 has affected funerals. We hear about those that die and the funerals that are held but, we don't hear about how not being able to travel has affected the grieving process. Photography student Jacob Moscovitch's grandmother passed away in April and his family was unable to attend the funeral in Israel. He decided to photography his mother's grieving process as a way to heal. -
2020-10-29
Blacktober - The Wind Rises
Another example of a piece of Blacktober art, with a character from the Studio Ghibli movie, The Wind Rises. -
2020-10-28
Blacktober - Princess Peach
Traditionally, during the month of October, artists from all corners of the internet come around to do something called Inktober. When Inktober's creator was shown stealing other's arts for profit (especially from people of color), people decided to create a new art theme for the month, #Blacktober, in honor of the black artists who are heavily underrepresented in the community turning well-known characters in media in portrayals of if they were a person of color. -
2020-05-01
COVID influenced street art
During the first lockdown in Melbourne the community in Southbank bonded through new COVID influenced street art. On the side of my apartment building on City Road, Southbank street artist Peter Seaton also known as CTO Art was commissioned to paint a piece over some recent graffiti. He titled the street art ‘trapped in a third dimension’, he described that COVID19 had caused fear and panic, which are the lowest emotions and he wanted people to experience and remember the feeling of love. This painting reflects intimacy during coronavirus and ideas of not being able to touch one another. -
2020-10-27
Let 1,000 coronavirus flowers bloom
A medical lab technologist in New York City has started making art out of biohazard labels. He calls his art "The Biohazard Collection" and plans to donate it to the New-York Historical Society. -
2020-11-04
Social Justice High School
The Bedford City School District in Bedford Heights, Oakwood, and Walton Hills, Ohio are supporting their Bedford High School/Art Department efforts to memorialize the fight for Social Justice. The significance is not how much publicity the art project will get but that Social Justice is reaching even the smallest of corners in the United States. The Black Lives Matter protest and Social Justice reform determinations have gathered acknowledgements everywhere and hopefully the movement does not stop its traction to change social injustice towards minorities. Again the art project by Bedford High School is a statement that Social Justice is still progressing towards reform no matter how small it might seem. -
2020-06-25
Seniors Embrace the Arts During Quarantine
These images are so visually striking and uplifting. A lot of diversity is represented in the group as well. The seniors used their creativity and their imagination to take part in the challenge. These photos were taken at the Amenida Seniors Community in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada. Perhaps other museums can follow suit and issue “museum challenges” to ease the stress of Covid-19. -
2020
Jewish Melbourne: FOJAM's best of 5780
Festival of Jewish Art and Music (FOJAM) produced a 'Best of 5780' list: "Without getting too heavy and nostalgic for the year that has passed, 5780 has been uh pretty challenging. But hey, Jews never expect anything to be easy. We want meaning and enrichment more than anything else right? That's why we love our arts! This last six months has really felt like we have a community of people surrounding us and we are feeling good going into 5781. We have created a Best of 5780 (Hebrew calendar year) for you to consume over the high holidays and hopefully you come back rejuvenated and inspired." -
2020
Jewish Melbourne: FOJAM Newsletters
Festival of Jewish Art and Music (FOJAM)'s theme for 2020 was 'Homeward Bound' and they issued a number of newsletters across the year, collating them on their website. -
2020
Jewish Melbourne: FOJAM events
The Festival of Jewish Art and Music (FOJAM) normally puts on live events, but during the Covid lockdown they have organised a series of livestreamed events for the community. Attended by hundreds of people, some of these events - or excerpts from the events - have been shared afterwards on youtube. -
2020-10
Apollo
As per quarantine, most people have had more time to create. With that time, my friend Apollo has drawn out a picture of him and his boyfriend. As with a lot of queer individuals, art can be a form of escapism and it certainly has come to flourish with the times of quarantine as many closeted individuals find it harder to grow in less than great positions. -
2020-10-24
"There is a before and an after. Treat yourself gently." - Red Blood, Black Ink
A poem about the times, and how it drags on. Transcript: [People say this new thing - well, that was before. We casually delineate - oh, but then quarantine. No, this was after March. I hear the same tired, bitter tone in myself. Of course, I say, then covid happened. I mock my own choices; grit my teeth about finances, sneer about my English degree, sigh about loans from college. I regret what I didn’t appreciate. What I took for granted. I get angry at my past self - the trouble she didn’t avoid. But I also hear - each of us, just a little, being gentle to each other. Well, you didn’t know, we say. It’s okay, we say, you will find something. Oh, tell me about gardening. Tell me about those new hobbies. Tell me about the crack in the floor you spent a week trying to refinish. Tell me about the new show you’ve been watching. It’s okay if it’s not much. It’s okay if you have no idea what the future looks like. It’s okay, none of us do. Be gentle to yourself. On this side of events, we care more, listen harder, value time with others. We talk about birds and we notice clouds and we have slowed down. There is a before and an after. Treat yourself gently.]