Multi-media meditations from the first three months of quarantine in Los Angeles County. Filmed February through May, 2020.
Artist Talk on pandemic-responsive video work from Art in Isolation exhibition at Art 123 Gallery, curated by Christian Bigwater and moderated by Rose Eason.
CoVID Dreams
daily videos and freeverse writing from the first weeks of quarantine in Los Angeles County
L O O K U P
March 28, 2020 – Los Angeles County
A triptych composite of three walking videos taken during the second full week of mandatory “stay at home” orders in California.
At eye level,
the neighborhood is an eerie ghost town, populated by
nervous neighbors furtively darting away from each other
and the occasional lone vehicle.
But, looking to the sky, there is a deep tranquility,
a spaciousness, and a kind of
cleansing
relief.
In the time of pandemic, the skies are momentarily reborn.
The familiar
smog
has cleared.
Air traffic is almost non-existent.
On this particular day, the clouds have even dissipated.
All that remains is the piercing, clear sun, and the lines of
electronic communication that continue to connect us
in this moment of global pause.
And, the invitation to walk - lightly, mindfully - upon the earth.
S U R R E N D E R (boiling point) Filmed March 31, 2020 - Los Angeles County
And so, we return to our homes, as we have been ordered to do. We turn to the routine tasks of domestic life - making beds, bathing children, boiling pasta. We yearn for normalcy in these strained performances of everyday living But we can't quite find it. Even the most mundane tasks remind us of the storm brewing outside the door And, maybe there is a beauty in that. Or, at least a kind of peace to be found in surrendering to our vulnerability
Artist Talk on Covid Dreams as part of Doxa Exhibit’s Creatives in Pandemic series with curator Naomi Stewart: Part I Part II Part III
This series was developed as part of two collaborative call & response projects launched by Shoebox Projects at the outset of the LA County “safer at home” orders. To view the full collaborations, visit:
Ashton S. Phillips 