Multimedia Projects
Artist's Statement
By: Fairooz Chowdhury
During this coronavirus pandemic, I have observed from news outlets and social media that even though the coronavirus outbreak has brought a negative impact on everyone’s lives, it has brought a positive impact on our environment. Lockdowns in countries caused employees to work from home which reduced the use of transportation and decreased the number of carbon emissions on earth. Furthermore, China, Italy, and other major countries were forced to close down their factories to reduce the spread of Covid-19. This caused countries with air pollution to decrease significantly. According to CNN, “Major cities that suffer from the world's worst air pollution have seen reductions of deadly particulate matter by up to 60% from the previous year.” The coronavirus pandemic has reduced climate change which will help everyone in the future.
This brought me to use the phrase “Mother nature is healing” as the theme for my artwork. Since I was talking about the Earth, I decided to use Earth’s round circular shape to fit my drawing that showcases how quarantine has helped improve air quality and reduce carbon emissions.
Artist's Statement
By: Derek Price
Throughout the quarantine a big part of my daily routine has been running. I follow my coach’s schedule which describes the distance and type of work-out: long runs (8-12 miles), short runs (4-7 miles), and tempo runs (fast paced mile for a set time, such as 20 minutes). I produced three maps outlining my favorite running routes. While observing my surroundings during my runs, I am reminded of the many things I am grateful for. On my Fresh Pond loop, I pass my high school which is now an emergency homeless shelter. Seeing how my school has been repurposed, makes me grateful for having a roof over my head and for having good health. Likewise, on the Charles River Loop as I cross the Longfellow Bridge, I see the inbound train to Charles/MGH roll by and my attention goes to the conductor, who is risking his or her life to provide transportation for residents. On the Porter Square Loop, one of my short runs, I take the time to reflect and appreciate that I am able to run while so many other people are restricted in their movement.
I found a map of Cambridge from google images. To edit the map with my running routes I used google drawing. I created a triangle to represent my house (where I began my run). To map out the loop I used different variations of lines and colors. I changed the thickness of the pen to make the map legible and clear. I looked at landmarks, parks and bodies of water to accurately show my daily runs.
Artist's Statement
By: Oliver Leek
I wanted to make a project that made people feel together by reminding everyone of how similar our situations are. I think I succeeded. I decided to ask a bunch of my friends if they could send me pictures of their personal vices, some of the photos weren't retrievable, so I had to leave those out. I also took a bunch of photos of my family's vices, not to say that my family are alcoholics, because we are not, but just to say that it is a fun indulgence to have a marg every once and a while.
We are in a time where everyone feels very alone, if we can find any ways to make us feel together, that makes us happy, but, we don’t really need to find any other ways to feel connected, we are more unified as a country, even as a world, than we ever have been before. Looking back on it, I should’ve probably asked a lot more people for photos, it could’ve been a much cooler project.
Artist's Statement
By: Jing O'Neil
The piece of art I created was a slideshow that depicts what the impacts were on my community and family. The message I want to send is that this pandemic has impacted communities, family’s and social interactions. I decided to interview my two cousins that live in NY, but have moved to FL for the time being because I wanted to hear about their experiences with both state’s rules and regulations around the pandemic. I interviewed my brother because I was going to compare my cousin’s, my brother’s, and my perspectives on this topic. I wanted to see what each “grade level” had in common and what were the differences in their way of schooling/experiences. Also different ages have different mindsets and opinions so this would be interesting to see what the ages 7, 11, 12, and 14 thought. The research is to describe how states/communities are coping with this and what precautions are they taking. It also states some information that supports my “thesis.”
My artistic process was to interview people about their current experiences in this uncertain time and then find some way to link that to a certain category. And then I just kept adding ideas onto the google slide and that’s how the finished product was made. It wasn’t really planned.
Artist's Statement
By: Opal Puga Gorry
I created a collage debunking myths about the coronavirus. People are spreading a lot of misinformation and many can lead to dangerous situations. It's important to be factually accurate. I found a couple images and matched it up with the useful information about COVID-19. I thought creating a collage might be a useful and creative way to correct myths.
Artist's Statement
By: Ruth Andre
I decided to make a collage for my creative project because I wanted to show how in society's eyes the white woman on the left would be held to a higher standard and be considered much better than the black man on the right, but yet they both have the ability to suffer from the same virus. On the left of my collage it shows a white woman surrounded by pictures that represent who she is. She is twenty-six, was born in America, and is a wealthy feminist. On the right, it shows a sixty-seven year old black man who was born in Jamaica and is a democrat, along with being a civil rights activist. In the middle of the collage it says, “viruses don’t discriminate and neither should we.” I placed that picture in the middle because I wanted the people looking at this collage to realize that they can both be affected by the same virus, so maybe they’re not so different after all, they’re just human.
Artist's Statement
By: Korey Bernard
It was around 1 something AM. I just finished recording what was supposed to be my creative project but isn't now. I was thinking, then making a car on a game called Forza Horizon 4. Got a car big enough to fit enough text. The gas mask is to mean all masks in general. I infused Quarantine, gaming, and homework into one photo. The red arrow pointing at the hand, the text under says “wash me.”
Artist's Statement
By: Junee Manandhar
So far, my art has expanded a lot. I’ve been trying out different forms of art during quarantine. Drawing was one of the main ones I’ve done all my life because it was quick and easy. Recently, I’ve been painting and making collages. With all this time and boredom, I’ve created many things that I’m actually proud of and it’s really fun to do, too.
I can express so many things through collaging which I find really cool, you can have so many hidden messages amongst all the pictures. It looks really cool when you take random pictures with a similar theme and put them together. Painting is very calming, stroking the canvas and leaving behind a color is so peaceful. It’s a little harder than collaging but it’s still equally as fun.
Artist's Statement
By: Zack Perman
The point of the art is to show that the distraction of the pain and suffering caused by the coronavirus is forcing our view away from the land and nature which is thriving and towards only ourselves. Hence the dude looking down and nature is above him, suggesting nature may be more important or at least the silver lining of the whole problem. The art was done digitally online. The deer faded and above the guy is to illustrate that the whole Earth is benefiting from something we are only seeing as a detriment. The differences in the contrast of the two characters shows how easy it is to focus on the bad when the good is just ahead. The style switch also shows how the deer representing Earth and nature is more solid and fixed whereas the human suffering is temporary and more rough.
Artist's Statement
By: Gavi Escamilla-Salomon
For my pandemic creative project, I decided to create a collage. In my collage, I wanted to capture the main aspects of the Coronavirus and it’s effects. I wanted to make it easily understandable and relatable to everyone living in these times. When someone looks at it, they can refer to real world situations. For example, one image is a picture of a sign on a door saying, “Sorry we are closed.” Any viewer will think about how their favorite store or restaurant might have the same sign and reflect on how the pandemic is affecting businesses. Another key image is a graphic of the year 2020, but instead of zero’s, they are replaced with covid-19 molecules. This can be interpreted as how the year has been altered due to spread of the disease. In conclusion, I intentionally chose images with direct messages to show the seriousness of the pandemic and it’s impact on the world.
Artist's Statement
By: Elyssa Herbert
My creative project represents/demonstrates/shows that us as a community have to stick together and fight this, but we have to be willing to go for what we want despite what other people might think of us. Also I want people to realize that we are all in this together and to stay strong with being at home safe with your loved one’s.
Artist's Statement
By: Jacob Irizarry
So I was thinking what has impacted me during this quarantine due to the coronavirus. I was thinking that climate change has changed, and school, and social life between friends and family, and jobs because most of them are going absolutely digital, food is going down and hand sanitizer and toilet paper. So I had to pick one of those things and I was thinking, “Let’s pick something that I knew very well and that was climate change.” I knew so much about it because ads, and school talks about it a lot, etc. So I chose something to draw and why not do the Earth because it’s dying very slowly. So I picked two drawings of Earth as reference and I did a sketch and they came out all right, but nothing is ever perfect am I right? So then after I did my sketch and did all of that I colored one of the Earth’s with a pen and colored pencil, but then I realized how long that would take me, so then I took my phone and took a picture and then sent it to my email. Afterwards, I went on my computer and then opened the email and dragged the image to Adobe PhotoShop. I only used Adobe because it’s a lot faster than doing it by hand. So I basically colored both of the Earth’s the way I wanted and I think it came out good, not the best work that I could’ve done but I’ve been on my butt on this computer for like three hours.
So basically what this drawing is referring to is obviously climate change, but the one on the left is the Earth before quarantine, because that is when everyone is at work and driving so there are a lot of chemicals being spewed out into the atmosphere and so on and so forth. The one on the right is the Earth during quarantine because no one is leaving and they are being self conscious about everything and everyone around them, so that means that you see a lot less cars on the road people can go jogging in the nice weather but have to be six feet apart, and you can finally breathe so nice refreshing air that is not intoxicated with chemicals.
Artist's Statement
By: Elliot Olynciw-Olkuski
The first part of my artistic process is thinking a lot. I also started the project a ton of times. I think this is most evident with drawings and music as I will start them over tons and tons of times. I do this because I think the beginning of an art piece is the most important part of a piece of art because it sets the tone for the rest of piece whether it’s the first coat of paint or the first measures of a song. After that, once I have a starting point, I inch along that path because I normally already have in mind what I want the final project to look like so I have to be careful. As I get closer and closer to the final project, I always end up beginning to not like whatever I’m working on, it could be perfect but I would still not like it because I have spent so much time with it. And then it’s done and I start sharing it with people who I think would enjoy it.
Artist's Statement
By: Elias Poor
This is a photo of Trump that I made that is made up of every untrue statement that he has made, JUST ABOUT THE CORONAVIRUS! Sorry about the watermark but I spent 2 hours making this only to discover that it wanted me to pay $34.95 for the watermark to be removed.
Artist's Statement
By: Xander Rosen
Part 1) My ‘art’ is several pictures from around Cambridge, along with my thoughts on them. These pictures show the (almost) direct predicaments caused by COVID-19. These include laid off employees, closed stores, long waiting-lines, and bankrupt businesses. In addition to the economic problems, I also have pictures of masks and gloves littered on the ground. By adding my take on the occurrences caused by COVID-19, I am able to convey my thoughts on what we are currently experiencing.
Part 2) My ‘art’ uses graphs and statistical information from trusted sources to show the impacts that COVID-19 has on the world. These include stock market drops, confirmed cases charts, confirmed deaths charts, and log charts. The ‘artistic process’ of my work was using pictures of our community, along with informative graphs and numbers to convey a central idea (and/or) opinion on COVID-19. By adding my take on the occurrences caused by COVID-19, I am able to convey my thoughts on what we are currently experiencing.
Artist's Statement
By: Leo Rothenberg
This was supposed to represent the interview I did with Zack compared to the interview I did with my mom. For both Zack and me this quarantine is a lot of playing video games and having fun inside. The window to the outside is to represent the people that are really affected by the virus, delivery workers, warehouse workers, doctors and more. Also people who can’t work from home or who are being laid off and can’t afford to stay home. The art is like what the quarantine feels like vs. what it really is, which is a horrible thing that kills so many and puts people's lives both financially and physically at risk.
Artist's Statement
By: Rickey Simmons
I created an earth infected with Coronavirus. This earth is showing what everybody on earth is going through on a day to day basis. We are trapped inside of our homes and we cannot leave.
Artist's Statement
By: Safia Singh
I wanted to do my project about mixed messages and uncertainty about the coronavirus. So many people that I talked to didn’t really have a clear picture of what the immediate future is going to look like, and neither do I. I was trying to create a sort of chaotic, confusing vibe to reflect the confusion and uncertainty of the pandemic. It’s animated for the same reason. I made this in photoshop. I traced pictures to get the shapes of Cambridge and Florida right, but everything else I drew with a mouse. Also in case it’s unclear, the white building is supposed to be a hospital.
