In this time of crisis, when normal life has been so uprooted, it’s important to be able to adapt to the changing situation. The same is true for us artists as anyone.
For example, when the Williamson Art Gallery’s Open Exhibition found itself in jeopardy because of the lockdown, they photographed all the artwork and made it a virtual exhibition online.
The Convenience Gallery in Birkenhead is also currently holding weekly virtual exhibitions, and the Brooklyn Art Library are offering daily prompts for creativity.
Then there’s Firstsite – who I’d never heard of before – who have put together a downloadable artist’s activity pack featuring ideas from Antony Gormley, Gillian Wearing, Jeremy Deller, and Bob and Roberta Smith, amongst others.
So, if you’re wondering what’s the purpose of an artist during a crisis, the answer is clearly to be creative and, in turn, inspire more creativity. In a way, we are our own virus spreading creativity!
Which is just as well because without creatives wondering ‘what if?’, how does humanity imagine a better future? One that is not reliant on unsustainable exploitation. One that doesn’t expose itself to a traumatic uprooting of what it was.
Without it’s creatives, how does humanity even design and build what it needs?
Without creativity, I can’t imagine humanity has much of a future at all.
