PANDEMIC CHARM

This work is based on the ABRACADABRA protection charms, used to ward off malaria in Roman times, and again during the plague in seventeenth century London. Initially, when installed in September 2020, it took the form of a 47.5 cm x 61 cm inkjet print with the words NOVELCORONAVIRUS, arranged in an inverted-triangle composition,  and printed on a corrugated substrate – of the kind used by the City of Toronto for its COVID-19 information panels. This was hung on the front door of a local community centre during a local art exhibition, as a “charm” to protect the community against the virus.

In November 2020 we installed a larger-scale version on the exterior of the building where we have a studio (see image above).

This work is - to borrow from Chris Gosden,  author of The History of Magic (2019) – an ‘experiment’ in the form of ‘popular magic’ that allow us to explore human relations with the SARS-COV-2 virus. We are interested in how these historical forms raise questions about how “magical thinking” often subtends our dealings with the novel coronavirus. They are reminders that our belief in the power of words over material reality is being tested to breaking point by the pandemic.