Contagious Creation

Sophee Sanderson @socialsophee

I'm sure you can remember the beginning days of COVID. Stress, confusion, fear, anxiety, boredom and COVID germs filled the air. Being strictly and suddenly confined to our homes was a weird adjustment for everyone.

At first, diving into TikTok and binge watching multiple shows and movies on Netflix was ideal. It felt nice to do absolutely nothing and to finally have a break from school and work. However, being a couch potato all day eventually got old and my butt was starting to get flat. 

When my friends and I had watched what felt like every series on Netflix possible, we realized it was time to find a new hobby to fill the void during our long do-nothing days. I remember we started cooking and baking more, we would spray paint everything in sight and one of my friends even ordered a paint by numbers canvas. Our creative juices were starting to flow.  

I have always been a very creative person (once again, it's the pisces in me). Even if it's just for fun, I have always loved to create things. I feel like the lockdown not only gave me time to work on myself, but to finally get back into the things I loved doing, like painting and working on home projects. 

The pandemic clearly had an effect on our society in many ways. Social and economic disruptions hit hard, but emerging media and digital technologies connected the world to convey information, keep businesses running and keep families connected. It also provided comfort, distraction and inspiration to those who were stuck at home.

In an article published by ScienceDirect, socio-cultural researcher Sharon Jeannotte shared her conceptual framework that used economic, social, creative and political lenses to examine the immediate impact of the pandemic on creators, curators and the media. 

COVID created a cancellation of cultural events, concerts and theatre performances and cultural venues like art galleries, museums, libraries and recreational centers were suddenly forced to close. Media coverage was also cut short and creative jobs like performers, visual artists, writers, journalists and museum and library personnel were laid off. 

The rise of digital platforms allowed for culture and creation to start booming again. Similar to how my friends and I started switching up our activities to be more creative and mindful, creators started to do the same. After going through a dry spell of being unable to create, people looked to rising digital platforms to fill their time and practice their art. Social media also allowed creatives to connect with audiences and share their work in a digital setting.

In a socially-distanced world, artists were using their skill to create content for fun and to help keep people entertained and inspired, but most importantly to keep others informed. People started to share information with their own creative touch and digital artists made creative and colorful infographics that spread rapidly on digital platforms. Even kids used their amateur creativity to express their feelings during the pandemic. It was the simple and small things that made a difference. Sidewalk chalk art, community murals and hand drawn cards created positivity, appreciation and hope for people in the middle of a crisis.

"The sheer volume of cultural production, both digital and live, unleashed during the COVID-19 pandemic hints at the social value attached both to artistic expression and ways of living together and to the efforts that people will make to connect, both as artists and as art lovers."

 

I think that culture, arts, media and entertainment should be given a more distinguished role in the "new normal" of the world as we recover from the pandemic. The world needs art in times of crisis. Art allows us to feel and express what it means to be human; it allows us to voice our thoughts and feelings and it brings people and ideas together.

Maybe one good thing the pandemic brought us was the contagious creation that spread, bringing a glimpse of hope to the world at large.