The Art Of The Matter
Keeping art alive in the time of social distancing
This is a different year for (not just) the art world. During a time of canceled art fairs, exhibitions, and live events, Zurich’s performing arts festival Theater Spektakel will unveil a unique edition, foregoing a centralized program and instead inventing a series of events, installations, and “intervention"s” in public spaces. The fun part is, most of the events are intentionally unannounced. The lack of publicity is devised to limit the gatherings of crowds while providing an element of surprise to the inadvertent visitors. In another creative approach, The Gran Teatre del Liceu, a historic opera house in Barcelona, reopened to a full house of 2,292 potted plants. The plants made an impressive audience, while their soil softened the acoustics. While surprising to see today, these unusual approaches to art are hardly new. During the time of the bubonic plague, people in Italy carried artworks through the neighborhoods to confront the disease and withstand the communal challenge.
Artistic, well-thought-out approaches in implementing distancing rules may result in truly serendipitous discoveries. This year, art has played a vital role in visualizing and giving character to our collective experiences dealing with the new changes in our lives, expressing our imaginations, reawakening our sense of wonder, and reminding us of our freedom. We need to keep art alive, as much as it keeps us alive.