The Arts are Contagious
The already-vulnerable world of the arts is taking more hits per COVID-19. Viruses thrive from crowds, as do arts and culture. According to documentary "Influenza of 1918," quarantining may still operate much the same as it did a hundred years ago, when the world faced an H1N1 influenza pandemic following “World War I”, when "all the schools, and public places, and everything was closed."
The art world, however, is experiencing this virus differently than previous pandemics, while still acting as a mirror for current events. “Art has always had a way of illustrating the times,” Taneka Washington, Art History Professor at Santa Monica College (SMC), said.
Edvard Munch’s “Self Portrait After Spanish Influenza'' is exactly that. Completed in 1919, the painting shows the artist wrapped in a blanket, uncomfortably mouth-breathing. He survived. However, Hollywood's heartland for music paraphernalia lovers, Amoeba Music, is still building it’s immunity to Coronavirus.
"Unfortunately, this virus got here before a proper send off of the Sunset location," Scarlet Vasquez, a former Amoeba employee, said of the Hollywood landmark’s French exit. “Fortunately for Amoeba, they will continue to flourish in their new home (6200 Hollywood Blvd) thanks to the support of all the music lovers out there. I have no doubt that Amoeba will thrive in the future because small businesses with heart typically do, despite LA rent.”
In the store, fans can normally enjoy live music shows of every genre and a variety of other niche events in addition to shopping for, say, a Dexy's Midnight Runners vinyl or a Terminator 3 Mug. While sales continue online at Amoeba.com, the in-store experience and culture are amiss to those attracted to the normal hive of activity.
Today, Vasquez uses her music know-how (remotely) at Epitaph Records. “Our boss was pretty quick to send us to work from home, and we’re actually able to do a lot from a business standpoint. There’s the other side where artists who might be depending on money through touring are hurting right now," said Vasquez. Support from music fans has been largely expressed through their buying merch and music directly from artists. "This is definitely the time to create, as weird as that may be," she said.
On the student front, SMC arts majors are also experiencing a different kind of community. “COVID is without a doubt revolutionizing art and the way we consume it,” SMC music major Andrew Rudy said. “I’ve seen many artists, those whom I know personally and those whom I don’t, utilize features like Instagram live, Zoom conference calls, even Minecraft, to interact with their fans and give virtual concerts.”
“Many of the studio classes have had to overhaul, as they were on-ground only,” Washington said. “SMC studio professors have rose to the challenge to meet the needs of our students to still provide a number of quality studio art courses. Luckily, SMC already had a number of online art history courses, so there has not been much change there.” Conceptual arts courses have proven an easier online learning culture than more physical ones.
Even the seemingly-banal things have their place in documentation and expression. “It will ultimately illustrate what we went through. I know people are making photo collages of things they see on a regular basis, now people selling masks, pictures of out of stock signs from stores, pictures of empty freeways, etc,” Washington said.
While this pandemic has made the means of accessing art span mediums, the role art plays remains the same. “I find that the role of art is doing what it has always done: it is helping us relate to one another and cope with whatever hardships we are going through,” Rudy said. Art has been a major distraction amidst his experience of the pandemic. “At the core of it, I think that the art’s role hasn’t changed, but rather the implementation and delivery of the art has changed to adapt to the current situation.”
Meanwhile, art persists and resists this pandemic, continuing to grow in the necessary ways to always be the hope for humanity. “I don’t think anything can completely overthrow the arts. Art comes from every human experience, whether that be pain, happiness, and anything in between,” Rudy said. “Art is just as essential to the people in hospitals as their doctors are. It gives us hope and happiness, and now is a time more than ever where we need that...I think disease can actually lead to more art.”
