Good/ Mourning, Thanksgiving
I still want to torch 2020 on a big ol’ bonfire, but I’m a little shocked to realize The Worst has not happened (yet). I know many people are in mourning for various reasons, which has me conflicted about the few bright spots.
“Janus: Value” in the collector’s home. Photo courtesy Korey McLeod.
On the one hand, I’m thrilled that “Janus: Value” now lives in Washington, DC, at the home of Korey McLeod. Actually, that collage wasn’t even in my solo show at Morton Fine Art. But after visiting the gallery, Korey found it on my website and asked if it was available. I’m deeply grateful for the support, especially during the pandemic.
Credit: All My Relations podcast/ Instagram
Speaking of COVID-19, the virus has claimed more Indigenous (and Black) lives than in any other group. So family gatherings with people outside your household are not a good idea; neither are public events critical of Thanksgiving. This year Un-Thanksgiving at the University of Oregon, the annual Sunrise Gathering at Alcatraz Island and the National Day of Mourning all went online.
Credit: Gregg Deal/ Amplifier.org
Understatement of the year: What a bittersweet holiday. For those who can access it, a Zoom gathering might help to ease the separation. But I think old-school phone calls, to share the good and the bad, might be better for me in this exhausting year.
New work: What's another word for 'waiting?'
Hi, kids! Today, “When” is our Word Of The Day. When will we get a handle on the coronavirus infection rate? When will my kids be able to go back to school? It’s like being suspended.
Nobody’s done anything wrong, but the kids are essentially banished from school.
You could even say remote learning is supposed to cushion us from spikes in the COVID-19 infection rates, like a suspension system reduces the impact of outside shocks.
Now that we’ve settled into a “class time” routine, my kids are doing okay and I’ve carved out enough studio time for a new collage. At first, “Suspension” was going to show the teacher, students and the schoolhouse right-side-up.
Lisa Myers Bulmash, “Suspension,” collage on paper
But flipping the image captures the surreal nature of school in the Upside-Down more accurately. I’m still working on a way to visualize my kids’ isolation in a new way, though. I think they (and I) are getting out of the habit of being around people who don’t live with them. Which brings us back to the word of the day: When will they hang out with their friends again, without having to be pried out of our house?
Museum-killers: bugs of two kinds
It’s getting rough out there for museums and their staff. The coronavirus pandemic poses an existential threat to museums as well as for-profit businesses nationwide. And it’s all due to bugs.
The coronavirus is the immediate bug threat: American museums are struggling to survive without paying visitors, who are stuck in quarantine. A survey of 760 museum directors last month showed they’ve laid off or furloughed 44% of their staff. Without major financial aid, one-third of the museum heads worry they may be forced to shut down permanently in 16 months — if their operating budgets even last that long.
And then there’s the other kind of bug.
Gray silverfish are less of a problem at UK museums during normal times. Source: Wikimedia Commons
It’s more difficult for museums in Britain to keep gray silverfish and other pests from damaging the collections when all the staff are stuck at home. No museum visitors are scaring away the bugs from the public areas, either, and the insects are more active in warmer weather as well. So the bugs pretty much have the place to themselves.
Don’t you want to see art in real life again, instead of online? Remember to mask up, y’all. The sooner we flatten the infection curve, the sooner we get to enjoy our museums.