The Covid 19 pandemic has caused so much disruption to our lives and 2020 has been an undeniably strange year. I have dedicated a sketchbook to reflecting on this subject matter.
At the very start of the pandemic I saw, on social media, a meme that demonstrated how the virus spreads and how social distancing measures could reduce that spread. I have drawn a rough version of it in my sketchbook (see below). This meme was everywhere on social media for a time and it interested me that this meme was spreading in a similar way to the virus but through online contact. In a strange way, I thought it could be a diagram of itself and how it spread. Rather than the diagram reading ‘This person didn’t go to that BBQ’ it could read ‘This person didn’t sign into Facebook’. We do talk about social media posts going ‘viral’ and this a very apt description.
This meme started me thinking about what role technology might play in this pandemic. Would it be a positive role? Would it save us or would it harm efforts to suppress the virus? On one side there was much talk of an app that could track contact with infected people; on the other, warnings of how fake news could water down public health messaging. I find our love/hate relationship with social media and new web based apps interesting. They have infiltrated so many aspects of our lives and collect so much data on us. This data and influence can be a powerful tool. A tool to help or manipulate us.
In addition to my interest in this subject I find the diagram visually pleasing. This is possibly, in part, because it is so ordered or maybe there is something about sections branching off from other sections that is pleasing as this represents growth (which is normally a positive thing). I have, therefore, decided to develop and explore these visuals further.
In the above sketch I have developed the basic diagram to be more chaotic and animal-like. Part of the appeal of the original diagram is that it is so ordered but in reality the pandemic progresses with a lot of disorder and lack of control. I have used eyes to represent people and have tried overall to make it more visceral. I have also added some shapes that look like struts supporting the branches. These look industrial and represent cities which inevitably become hotspots for infection.
The drawing above is a further development of the diagram but in this I have let the branches flow more naturally. In this drawing the image seems more like a single shape with branches rather than many shapes connected. This looks more like one entity; like a sea creature or a cell or the virus itself (although it doesn’t look much like this particular virus).
The red circle on the left could be the nucleus of a brain cell but it also represents the technology we all have in our home. It’s that little red light that says your tv is on standby or the light that shows your webcam is on. For me, it is also a reference to ‘HAL 9000’, the computer in the film ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’. In ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ HAL controls all aspects of life on the spaceship on which the film is set. Is this the case for us? Does the technology we have run all aspects of our lives? In this drawing the ‘red light’ is at the centre of the shape, leading everything. *SPOILER ALERT* In ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ HAL’s control of the ship becomes a threat and it leads you to wonder how much of a threat the technology we use could be. This is especially relevant during the pandemic lockdown as we rely heavily on our technology to keep us connected. I think this idea is worth developing.
Along side this drawing I also drew the above patterns. These are representations of the urban shapes and patterns that I see around me everyday. Manchester is a fast-growing city and there is construction work taking place in the city centre constantly. There are cranes everywhere and it can feel like the growth of buildings is unstoppable; when will we run out of space? The rectangles in the first drawing above could represent all the buildings in the city or all the homes. These homes appear as if they are built on top of each other. It is also reminiscent of a circuit board, referencing the technology being used in every one of these homes. The second pattern is more reminiscent of the cranes and machinery that are present in the city; constructing more and more buildings.
It was only until after creating these images that I realised the music I was listening to may have influenced these two drawings. When sketching these patterns I was listening to an electronic musical artist called Max Cooper and I think the above track ‘Repetition’ particularly influenced me. The track, as the name suggests, contains a lot of repetition. Whilst the track does not have any of the discordant noises we associate with the term ‘industrial noise’ or the noise of construction, there is something undeniably machine like about the repetition in it. Maybe it sounds like a generator or a train. The urban images in the video, which I have seen many times prior to drawing these patterns, will have undoubtedly influenced me too.
After realising how the music I listen to has influenced me, it occurred to me that what I read may be influencing me too. The above image is the next page in my sketchbook and makes a note of the book I am reading ‘War of the Worlds’ by H. G. Wells. In ‘War of the Worlds’ the earth is attacked by Martians with technology much more advanced than ours. *SPOILER ALERT* Despite all human efforts to defend against the unrelenting attack, ultimately it is the more primitive organisms, earthly pathogens, that vanquish the alien invasion. At this point in my sketchbook work I was struck with how pertinent my current choice of reading material was to current events. Despite how advanced we have become, we are still able to be overcome by these small, basic organisms. Furthermore, although it can’t be denied that technology has played its role in stopping the spread of the virus, it could be argued that the way we are so globally connected, initially gave the virus a greater opportunity to spread.
The above drawing is a further progression of the diagram and again shows it as one entity but instead has many red circles branching off the main one. This is a combination of my previous sketch and the original diagram. It doesn’t just have one ‘HAL’ but a ‘main HAL’ and many ‘little HALs’ branching off it. These ‘little HALs’ are the technology that is in our homes. They may be our social media accounts, feeding information about us back to the ‘main HAL’. The ‘main HAL’ could be large social media companies whose algorithms decide what adverts and articles to push to us and even what search suggestions to suggest. We are now so reliant on social media for communication and information, this can narrow our world view. Some people may be unknowingly pushed fake news articles about the pandemic and this is of course very worrying.
As I was quite pleased with the previous sketch I decided to develop it into the above painting. The medium I used is acrylic paint on canvas and I called it ‘Transmission’ in reference to the pandemic and to modern forms of communication on which we rely. I am pleased with the way this painting has turned out. I feel that in addition to the previous points that I have made about this shape, it also has the feel of a shape evolving and growing, maybe without our control. This is how some people feel about the growth of social media.
The above image is a painting that grew out of my experimenting with technique for ‘Transmission’. During the painting of ‘Transmission’ I used a small canvas to try out how I would achieve the shading I have used and to try out colours. I found the result interesting so I decided it should be a painting in its own right. The shapes that I have painted appear to be like cells or bacteria that could be grown in a lab as a medium on which various tests regarding the virus could be performed. The middle shape looks a little like a mouse that could also be used in lab tests. The images in this picture have the feel of laboratory testing and scientific research. Putting aside my ambivalence regarding the use of mice in laboratory testing, this scientific research can be seen as the positive side to the technology we have and many hopes are pinned on the research for a vaccine for Covid 19. Due to the fact that it was a test canvas for me and that the imagery refers to laboratory tests, I called it ‘Test Transmission’.
Self Assessment
I feel that this sketchbook and the resulting canvases have yielded interesting and worth while results. I am pleased with the gradual progression of the original diagram into something that expresses some of my thoughts and questions about the pandemic and our use of technology.
I was originally concerned that my sketches wouldn’t translate well to the painting I wanted to create but I think they have translated quite well.
Initially, I wasn’t happy with the way I had shaded the grey sections of ‘Transmission’ but in hindsight I actually think the stripy shading adds an interesting element to it. The shading reminds me of the way graffiti is sometimes shaded. This may have been influenced by some of my work about the graffiti I see on my morning run in my fluid drawings exercise.
I will continue to add to this sketchbook and will make further posts as my ideas progress.
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