When I was fearing for my life in a COVID ER unit, I never imagined that a year later I’d be gathering Broadway performers, young adults bereaved by COVID-19, and home videos of those they lost. But this year has been full of wild surprises. While I’d struggled with long haul symptoms for over a…
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Last March, Covid-19 crushed the independent movie world. Two major film festivals, South by Southwest and Tribeca, despite much-anticipated world premieres of documentaries and features, were canceled on the spot. Woe to the poor filmmakers who had spent years making their movies and then had their big break pulled out from under them. Some have…
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I can’t think of a more fitting symbol for hope in the new year than milkweed seeds. Each seed is poised to be carried aloft by the wind, harboring potential for new growth wherever it lands. Milkweed plants uniquely nourish caterpillars of Monarch butterflies, creatures of beauty and brilliant examples of the interconnectedness within native…
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This video post began with one of my composite/abstracted images of desert and sky, called Tenacity. Motion designer Luis Socorro help bring the piece it to life, adding a cosmic touch to the composition. We are a tenacious lot. Be well and be safe! Copyright © 2020 Steve Bennett Steve BennettSteve Bennett is…
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This video was created four years before COVID-19 struck, as a multimedia arts project. Now that there’s an end in sight, given the vaccine and a new administration, the video strikes me as an appropriate metaphor for this juncture in the pandemic. We collectively sank into an unthinkable abyss and hopefully upon the return voyage…
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Artist Stories from the Pandemic (2.5 min) Parrishart.com Parrish Art Museum on Long Island recently gathered artists living throughout the Island to share thoughts about art and life in the time of COVID. Some feel they are not able to fully realize their artist potential now, some are frustrated with virtual art as a venue,…
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Coronavirus: A global pandemic told through art (5 minutes) BBC Newsnight Art Historian James Fox In this excellent video, James Fox explores three paintings relevant to the current pandemic. Dame Barbara Hepworth’s pastel, ethereal drawing of doctors, surgeons, and nurses, was inspired by the care that her very ill daughter received in the 1940s. Andrew…
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The Rallying Cry of Street Art During Coronavirus (3 min) Mashable Watch and listen to two artists (Los Angeles and Barcelona) leveraging their talents to spread public health messages, inspire hope, and using their art to document this time for the future. It’s a great example of putting that truism into play–think globally, act locally.…
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Never before has the companionship of a dog meant more than during this pandemic. As we shelter in place and wait for the next turn of events, there’s one thing we can count on in the face of uncertainty—the love of our dogs. As an expression of gratitude for all that dogs provide us, I…
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In this installment of PL Recommends, we look at how art can keep us connected when the pandemic keeps us apart and how artists are creating messages encouraging communities to participate in public health measures to decrease the spread of COVID. Public health messaging has to be relevant to the individual for these practices to…
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