Covid-19 Now


By Andrew Blue Sky

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

In the initial weeks of the pandemic we are currently  going through Americans were inundated with facts, charts and statistics and we tried to find a way to quantify the severity of the situation. What this project attempts to do is effectively give a first-hand account of several stories from around the world on how Covid-19 has affected the individual.

On request, the individual communicates their thoughts by creating a voice memo on their phone while in their most comfortable environment – usually alone. They are of course free to answer the question of how Covid-19 affects them, in whatever manner they wish. It’s an interview with themselves, or a “stream of consciousness” as one person characterized it. My hope is that it conveys the intimacy of how individuals are coping – socially, economically and psychologically – with the current state of our world.

BIO:

Andrew studied the intersection of fine art photography and emerging digital technologies at the College For Creative Studies in Detroit. He held various creative and production rolls at companies such as, CNN’s Financial Network, Bloomberg Television, SPIN magazine and ABC News. Andrew has contributed creatively to the television, online, and print environments in national news gathering operations. He has practiced a wide variety of disciplines including animation, photography, photo illustration, photo editing and drawing. 

This Post Has 3 Comments

  1. Andy Chen

    I’m impressed with the amount of dedication it took to compile statements from people around the world and how organized everything is behind the scenes.
    I interacted with Covid-19 Now myself and had the same experience as what you showed in your video. The only issue I came across was playing back audio. Whether you forgot to add audio files before compiling or my computer not being able to play them, I couldn’t hear anything. Luckily, your video filled in the gaps.
    I’ve gotten new insights on how people, businesses, and governments in those cities are handling the virus. A restaurant in Shanghai labeling temperatures of people preparing and delivering food on every takeout order and Gallup having a curfew stood out to me.

  2. Tara Kesavan

    I really appreciate that you chose to devise a project that speaks to the times we’re living through. It is so rare for the entire world to share such a serious emergency and it seems like an important time for artists to document the universality of this experience.

    I love the way the project is laid out. The map graphic is beautiful and inviting. The experience of listening to each speaker and flipping through their photographs worked really well.

    One thing that came to mind was that maybe the interaction could be furthered by each user being able to insert their own voice recording and photographs? Not in a way that their media immediately manifests in the installation, but with the idea that they add to the archive you’re building and that you’d add that in at a later time. Another small observation was that I wasn’t sure that you needed the text on the left. It didn’t seem to affect the experience for me and I could do without it. The person’s voice and their photographs worked really well by themselves. Overall, really clean and well done! 🙂

  3. Lior Mamon

    I love this project, beautifully done Andrew! Beyond being graphically beautiful, and very well designed, the idea behind it is very thoughtful and appropriate to the times. It is nice to hear a stranger’s personal experiences rather than the news. I think this project has a very sensitive way to evoke empathy and a sense of a “joint hardship”, which is something we need to be reminded of when we sink to our own personal experience and difficulties coping with it. I guess I needed that today.

    The interaction seems very intuitive and user-friendly, accessible, and easy to use. it will be nice if more and more people will be able to add their stories over time. <3

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