In many ways it seemed as though something in the universe had been telling me the coronavirus pandemic was to come. I miraculously chose this semester to take a leave of absence from my college (which is five miles west of New Rochelle, the epicenter of the New York outbreak) and to spend it, instead, at Artscope Magazine’s “underground bunker” (so nick-named for its location under a rug shop). At the beginning of the pandemic I joked that COVID-19 was a form of divine intervention… a “Noah’s arc-type situation.” I don’t know if that’s what this is exactly, but I do know that what is happening now is both an ecological/biological and social/cultural episode. The pandemic did not come as a surprise to everyone. The first recorded travel-related COVID-19 case came to America on January 21, while the outbreak in Wuhan had been ongoing since December. People like Bill Gates have been … [Read more...] about REFLECTIONS FROM UNDER THE RUG SHOP: A PERSPECTIVE ON COVID-19 FROM INSIDE ARTSCOPE MAGAZINE
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COPING WITH COVID-19: INSIGHTS AND INNOVATION FROM THE ART WORLD
While artists may be spending much of this pandemic in their studios working to produce new works, many of us are left without such established art practices to help us make sense of (or escape) our current radical reality. At the same time, COVID-19 has pushed art institutions and organizations to get creative about the ways in which they operate. Many have created resources for the general public, so that we can create, view or in some other way take part in the excitement and depth of art — from wherever we may be. At a time when uncertainties, fear and illness plague our society, art remains a resource and practice which, in its essence, cannot be stamped out. And if we’re going to be quarantined, we might as well use our time at home to engage with that art: to pause, reflect, create and, ironically, participate. While galleries and artists scramble to keep their audiences … [Read more...] about COPING WITH COVID-19: INSIGHTS AND INNOVATION FROM THE ART WORLD