Jessica PingQuarantine Art – Encouraging Change Through Performance
Earlier this week, I posted the following quarantine art video on my social media channels. Watch the short video and then read on to learn about the inspiration behind it, my creative process, and the goals I had for it!
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Backstory:
Lately, my feed has been plagued with selfish behavior. Between the wanderlusters who can’t seem to stop traveling and the barhoppers who carelessly spread their germs around every establishment in town, the world seems to become less and less empathetic every single day.
I am so overwhelmed by the anger, frustration, and sadness I feel when I see yet another one of my Facebook friends living their best life.
How can you be so happy when someone just lost their mother, father, grandparent, brother, sister, daughter, or son to Covid-19?
Do you feel proud of your behavior? Is it a sense of accomplishment?
“Look at me, this pandemic can’t keep me down!”
You look like a clown.
The Inspiration:
Last Saturday morning, I actually left my house. I had a check I needed to deposit at the bank. So, I packed into the car with my parents and we rode to the next town over. We used the drive-up window and were surprised to see that neither cashier was wearing their mask properly.
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While in the area, we decided to spend some time at a local walking/biking trail. We brought our masks with us and were prepared to put them on if we encountered others. As this trail is a hotspot in town, we very quickly ran into other passersby. Less than 10% had masks. Granted, we were outside and most were riding by quite quickly on bikes, but part of me was still anxiously aware of my surroundings and the possibility for contamination.
Finally, once we got back in the car, we decided to go to McDonald’s to try their new frozen Coke drink. Neither the cashier nor the food handler in the drive-thru line were wearing their masks properly.
For the third time in a 2 hour period, I was aware of how little people were thinking of others.
As my family and I discussed our observations while sipping on our indulgent treats, the song, Before You Go, by Lewis Capaldi came on the radio.
I’m a mild fan of the newer artist and got lost in the melody of the song, completely tuning out the conversation happening directly to my left. The song, which serves as a plea/ode to an ex-lover, has some very powerful lyrics that I couldn’t let go of the entire ride home.
Before we entered my hometown’s city limits, my mind was running wild. Within 30 minutes of entering my front door (it was lunchtime; food always comes first 😂), I dove in.
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The Process:
Almost everything in the video is self-created (except the backing track – thank you, sing2piano, on YouTube, for that).
I rewrote the lyrics, I sang and recorded the song, I produced the audio, I choreographed and performed the dance, and I edited the video… All in all, after 4-5 hours worth of work, I had a completed quarantine art video comprising all of my feelings about Covid-19.
The Goal:
Do I think that anyone is actually changing their selfish behavior because of the video I posted.
No.
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Do I think people might have watched it and felt simultaneously moved and uncomfortable?
I hope so.
That was the goal.
Last week, I wrote a blog post all about the role that the creative industries play in how we, as a society, grapple with different social issues.
News articles and facebook posts can only do so much. When you add a melody and a performance to the message, something just clicks.
I hope I made people feel uncomfortable this week. I hope that people felt called out.
The first step in changing someone’s mind is making them feel like they should.
Art exudes emotion, which is much more compelling than words on a page.
With any luck, that slight jolt of emotion some people may have felt after watching my video can help wake them up to reality and get them thinking about their daily decisions.
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