The term Dada was first coined by Tristan Tzara on Sunday, February 6, 1916, at 6pm in the Cafe de la Terrasse in Zurich, Switzerland. Hugo Ball, one of the founding members of Dada, felt compelled to record this historic fact in his Dada au grand air (translated to Dada in the great outdoors) which was published in 1921.
For these foundational artists, Dada was a new reality. A new reality that came into being out of the emerging degradation of life that was WWI. These Dada artists heard the sounds and noises of life being ripped from a state of ‘normalcy’ into a simultaneous muddle of screams, machine-made sounds of destructive rhythms, and modified fevers of death. This re-shaping of the cloth of life through the insanity of mechanized warfare welled up in the eyes of Tristan Tzara, Hugo Ball, Hans Arp, Richard Huelsenbeck, Marcel Janco, and other Dada practitioners which quickly turned into rage, grief, agony, and disdain for the leaders who took the Western World into a global conflict. Dada was not a game! Dada was a nonsensical expression in a non-sensical world but it was SERIOUS! It was Serious Art!
Hugo Ball published the following statement in Dadaland, 1948:
“Revolted by the butchery of the 1914 World War, we in Zurich devoted ourselves to the arts…We were seeking an art based on fundamentals, to cure the madness of the age, and a new order of things that would restore the balance between heaven and hell.”
Working our way through Covid-19 today, do you see life returning at some point to the “normalcy” of 2019, or will this pandemic global experience cause us to determine another “new” reality of life in order to restore faith and belief again? Your thoughts?
Art 473 Modern Art I 
Dada Art movement was extreme. They were really taking life’s destruction and putting it into their pieces of work. With the pandemic and Political issues surrounding it and thinking about how people may create Art I laugh because everything probably would have masks on them but it would be as important as it is for this day and age.
I am not religious however, I have heard so many people make the statement, ” God is coming” right as this pandemic began. I had interpreted as God is seeing so much “distaste” in people and the behaviors in the world that when God comes God will hit everyone hard. Covid cases rise.
I can’t say whether we will ever return back to 2019 normal. I think even when the states completely re open people are going to still be very cautious and afraid to be outside fully. I know people are more and more not caring anymore about this pandemic as you see there are thousands of people outside especially in other states on a daily basis.
There are also people who probably would want to forget about this whole 2020 and throw it away and just live their life as they did before just with a mask on. Its a lot to process.
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I do not see the world going back, only moving forward, definitely into something bigger and better, a “new” reality so you say. Covid-19 has brought a lot of death and a lot of darkness, but I think that it has also brought a lot of light and community. I notice people being nicer and more considerate. I find myself feeling nostalgic about a time when I could see everybody smile. I have talked to so many people that feel like they have personally developed during quarantine, myself included. Time for a g l o b a l paradigm shift where people actually care about each other and the cleanliness of everything haha ! Optimism, community and openness to change will restore faith in humanity.
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Lizbeth Ramirez | Art 473
With how Covid-19 hit, I don’t think life will return to the normalcy of 2019. In mental sense I feel like people are starting to care less about the pandemic and just living their life to the fullest. Some people are just 100% careless and others are living life but still wearing masks and trying to be as safe as they can be. A lot of things have turned to working online too. There’s a lot of benefit to that but also it does take away from experiencing it in real life. For example, in the artworld many galleries have moved to online and It can benefit artists in the sense that they get exposure to a new type of audience, one that can be from any part of the world. Having the art scene online can also benefit many beginning artists as well. Moving away from the artworld in just a general sense, technology and international is becoming more and more a part of daily life. Even if the pandemic wouldn’t have happened, there would still be advances in technology but I feel that because of the pandemic that change or advances happened faster. Overall I just think that things won’t be the same as before but we will get to a point where we moved in from the pandemic but most of our lives will mainly be lived through technology.
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WWI inadvertently helped create the Dada movement, which was explained as a nonsensical, manic driven reaction to the hectic deprivation to humanity in those dire times. We can imagine in today’s world, we are a society hyper-aware, technologically addicted, and issues divided, who would have thought that a virus would put us in our place? Looking back this year and currently, societies across the world will have to have more self-reflection and understanding for basic needs of humanity. We can presume that the recovery of societies such as place like in Asia; Vietnam, Korea, helped managed the catastrophe among their own people effectively and quickly, whereas western governments struggle to manage the devastation with their own people. Which shows why people are angry and bringing up injustices that weren’t settled in the past such as capitalism, socioeconomics, health care, and racism. An interesting factor I believe are the generations being born into this generation. As a millenial, it is evident you can see generation Z is aware of the situation and take action. The situation teaches us that new realities are achievable by having more synergy in society. What I have noticed is that the new standard of art is very high and super interesting in today’s world as people are more connected as well.
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Ralph Mallare | Art 473
Working our way through Covid-19 today, do you see life returning at some point to the “normalcy” of 2019, or will this pandemic global experience cause us to determine another “new” reality of life in order to restore faith and belief again? Your thoughts?
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For myself, I don’t see us returning to the sense of “normalcy” that our lives were at in 2019. It’s disappointing because there are so many that don’t take this disease so seriously and instead of decreasing cases, we continue to increase, while other countries have continued to handle and stabilize their situations. Sure, many have claimed that COVID-19 is not deadly and has seen many recover after contracting the illness, but this doesn’t deny the 200,000+ lives that have been taken because of this disease.
In a sense, our worlds are always adapting to whatever happens in our lives. Whether it’s a massive earthquake, forest fires, elections, there are always variables that are created in order for us to adapt to the situations we are given. I am a very religious person and my person faith and beliefs haven’t been shaken, but in turn have made my beliefs even stronger for what I believe in. The word “normalcy” is so hard to depict, but what I do wish for our country is for a cure to be invented, but in the meantime I only wish for everyone’s health and safety to be secure while we continue to recover.
For now, I do hope that we can all be able to adapt and move towards a “new normal” that we all can adapt towards.
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I think Dadaists just wanted to offer an escape from their reality, or what reality meant at those dark times. Their work might have seen ridiculous but as the article says, it was serious, in the same sense parodies of serious issues cope with them. They entertain but hold an important message.
Despite common belief, I do believe we are going back to “normalcy” at some point, I mean, it is not going to be the one of 2019 because I think the virus will coexist with us when experts give up on a cure, but there will be a time we will not care about it anymore just like we don’t think about previous pandemics anymore, aside from history classes or for other academic purposes. However, this “normalcy” will take time to happen. Only when we’ve forgotten about the seriousness of it, and we stop wearing facemasks and doing those extra steps in hygiene it is when we are going back to our usual routine. Probably capitalism will find a way to sell us a new product as a result of this pandemic, besides masks, and that will be the difference between previous and current “normalcies”. The reason for this thought comes from comparing it with previous pandemics. Better hygiene was the great difference between the before and after, aside from having new vaccines available.
At the same time, I also believe we are in a “new” reality, as one of my classmates said, the world doesn’t go back, only forward. This year has been challenging on many levels of our personal and social life, but even when it is easier to see all of it as a misfortune, I believe many of the events that happened this year have the purpose to bring a brighter future for new generations and specific communities. Changes in our lives often put us out of our comfort zone, so it is no surprise people see it as a nuisance, but in the long run, every challenge we overcome makes us better as individuals, communities, and society.
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It’s surreal thing to think about how people have used art as a form of expression. Or like the Dadaists who turned art into a very serious form and turned non-sense back into non-sense. I think that at times art can be used to relieve us of the reality that we live in. And that there are times in which art can be used to either directly show the negativity we feel or maybe even the positivity or “normalcy” that we seek. Even during our times of Covid-19, I’ve seen multiple efforts to do exactly that. Masks are especially being used as an object surrounding art expression.
Honestly, I don’t think that life will return to the point of “normalcy” that we had in 2019. From the way that we interact with people and how we hygienically handle ourselves will surely affect us all in the future. I don’t think it’s a bad thing and like Parker said above, I also see it as a time where we be moving forward. I have the mentality that there is no other way except forwards. Even as someone who has a strong religious faith, I think that life will always be spinning in ways that we don’t want and that everyone is always facing a different reality. I personally feel like things are at a surreal moment, but we will get to a point where we’ll look back and say “Remember when we were all quarantining and we all wore masks?” It’s not to make fun of the situation, but I feel as time passes and as things happen or change as a result of the pandemic, things will be just as weird when we view things in present time or even in the future. It’s a weird time for sure, and I think everyone is trying to cope the best ways they can.
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When it comes to coping with the rules of society that is our current state of the country, is something that gives us an uncomfortable atmosphere and an urgent feeling that something needs to be done. Dada was the product of the distress that came about from WWI, to encourage those to stop and look. To stop and think, then to pull yourself out of the holes that we bury ourselves in and to think outside the box. Something that caught me by surprise was seeing a Meme that mentioned how we were almost hysterical when the US had reached 10,000 deaths. Now at 200,000 deaths, we don’t even bat an eye. An exaggerated reaction for sure, but in some ways, relevant and it made me stop and think about what we, as a country, have been through and how the people continue to handle the situation at hand.
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Throw out history we can see over and over how art, engineering, social, and cultural environments shift because of the horrors and stress, whether physical or mental, an event can place on the human body. Although COVID does present its dangers to those in our society, and some may feel more stressed than others, the threat is different. There are no bombs, gunfire, families being deployed overseas to die potentially. Women were called to factories because their husbands were sent to war, and someone needed to be in the factories; this changed are culture. COVID is almost doing the opposite, shutting down factories, telling people to stay home with their families. And although things like unemployment and depression from lack of socialization are real, it is not the same kind of psychological stress from a war that killed and wounded over 37 million people.
I think we will see a shift in culture and engineering, especially computer and software engineering, as everything begins to rely heavily on online platforms, and yes, even art. However, I don’t think it will be anything like Dada, because the horror and stress is not the same. People can stay at home with their families not across the globe, wondering when they will or if they will come back. Besides wearing a mask, which is only mandated in some states, and having difficulties hosting an event such as weddings and funerals, nothing has really changed in our everyday life. We still wake up in our own beds, eat our own food, talk to our friends and family, and watch our favorite tv shows at night.
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I think that life will eventually return to mostly a sense of “normalcy” of 2019 but with the new norms that the danger of COVID-19 brought. I think things have moved online and online communication used more. But I do not think that faith and belief are going to be strong presences today to people who weren’t already religious or desperate. DADA came be due to the trauma of war which made people desperate for catharsis. Sure, daily life with precautions like wearing masks, social distancing, and lots of hand sanitizer, life is a bit different. Some people have been or are starting to ignore these safety precautions and COVID-19 seems like it’s going to stay as a permanent part of the new norm. I think it’s because the treat of COVID-19 isn’t very visible or statistically fatal that makes some people not take it seriously. The H1NI and SARS outbreaks happened, people kind of get spooked in the beginning but it was quickly stopped in most countries and quickly forgotten. I thought the same thing was going to occur with COVID-19 but it didn’t. The thing is though, it’s not as visible as the other outbreaks and it spreads so easily. It’s quiet and not very traumatic like the bubonic plague where people developed very terrible and visible signs of it. Sort of like the 1918 flu influenza which killed so many people. Life is going to mostly return to “normal”, cause COVID-19 isn’t “scary”, and some people hate “being told what to do” even though it’s for safety reasons.
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History books have a record of relevant events in the world. It is also necessary to appreciate artists’ creativity during 2020 and how humans have adapted to a different lifestyle. I don’t think the world and its economy would be the same, but I am a good believer in science, and I am sure that there will be a vaccine by next year. This pandemic has also made me realize what is essential in my life and how I can still create art if the world is not the same place that used to be. I am an artist who never includes political or religious content within my artwork, but I can see how some people relate to it. My favorite part of the DADA movement was the use of collage. As a graphic designer, I admire how artists could collage their toughs with vibrant images and fantastic fonts.
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Working our way through Covid-19 today, do you see life returning at some point to the “normalcy” of 2019, or will this pandemic global experience cause us to determine another “new” reality of life in order to restore faith and belief again? Your thoughts?
I see life returning to a sense of “normalcy” again, but it will be different than it ever was before. It will be a “new” reality of life, as we will approach things differently than we have in the past. Perhaps, I am speaking more specifically in regards to the United States, and not the entire world. As I believe some countries were already more advanced in different ways than the U.S. I say this specifically in regards to health, and the affects our health has on others. Asian countries seemed to already be aware, that if they are sick, wear a face mask. The America’s, never made this a concern. Our selfishness, and ignorance to the effects of our health on others was not of much importance. Now, more than ever, this pandemic has changed our way of thinking on this subject. Another major difference, will be the way we work. I believe companies have come to the realization that they don’t need to own an expensive building to hold all their employees. Working from home will be a more new normal, causing less expenses, for the company and the worker. (ie. No commute, no building expenses, etc.)
I think we have seen a huge shift in political and social issues coming to the top of everyone’s awareness to create change. Partially due to confinement and abrupt change to our daily lives. This shift has effected everyone differently, and through artwork, the internet, and protest we have a worldwide platform to make these changes known, and come to fruition quicker than ever before. As Richard Huelsenbeck states in regards to Dada, “One cannot understand Dada. One must experience it.” This holds true to everything that is happening this year. “One cannot understand 2020. One must experience it.”
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I would love to be optimistic and say that life will return to the “normalcy” of 2019, but I don’t believe that will happen. The way that the country has responded to Covid-19 has already caused us to experience the virus much harder than other countries around the world, so I strongly believe that we will be continuing to learn and adapt to a “new” reality for a few years to come. Even if there is a vaccine there’s still so many habits we’ve adapted that will stick with us (for example, I would almost always rather wear a mask around a lot of people because it’s sanitary and makes sense- similar to how some Asian countries already did this pre-pandemic). However when it comes to restoring faith, I think that’s a personal thing that changes from person to person. I’m not particularly religious, but my faith has been pretty much the same today as it was in 2019.
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I believe we will not return to the “normalcy” of 2019. We have learned a lot of things this year during the pandemic and quarantine, such as the incompetence of our government. The people are growing unruly and learning how flawed our systems are, and everyone is tired. The rich are growing richer and the poor are growing poorer, and so many people are aware. I’m glad we likely wont return to normal because honestly we need change. While some practices will be good to keep up to better the health and safety of the people, everyone needs access to healthcare and housing, especially during a pandemic. Even beyond this pandemic, we all deserve the right to live, in a home and be able to eat every day. And while we had an abysmal response to the pandemic, I hope it is a turning point for everyone to eventually have a greater quality of life no matter what.
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Honestly, I slightly disagree with the writing because I believe the Dada movement transformed reality to a different reality from before the World War. I just believe that anything cannot be “new” because everything is recorded, in history or even in human minds. Living through Covid-19, I personally don’t think life is returning back to the “normalcy” of 2019. I believe that in the context of the time, it only moves forward and cannot move back. But first of all, what is considered normal? Yes, the pandemic is serious and yes, it will be one of the biggest pandemics we would ever have to face, but I just want to question if life was in the “normalcy” stage even before the pandemic happened. If I were to answer if this global cause will determine another new reality of life, I will say no, only because nothing will be new, but just adapting to the old reality of life and creating another form of life on top of it. I might sound too pessimistic, but I still believe that this adaptation will restore faith and belief once again in time.
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Eventually I think that life will return to a sense of normalcy, but our normal before covid-19 and our normal now are going to be incredibly different if that makes sense. As time moves on; although a vaccine is in the works, the effects of the pandemic are going to leave a lasting impression on the people of the world. Masks and people minding one another’s space is going to be seen more often around the world, as well as the continuous use of hand sanitizer when interacting with anything in public. Washing our hands has never been as significant as it is now. All of those things are kind of minor, but the fact that some people around the world, as well as a very vocal minority in the US, are parading that masks are anti-democracy and that the virus isn’t real are pushing back what was our feelings of “normalcy” in our daily lives. I think what is going to change drastically though are a lot of jobs, especially those in the tech and art industries. The boom in video-meetings and the abilities to work from home has made it so people in those industries will probably not have to physically go back to work even when the pandemic is over.
I think that although this pandemic is very real and scary, it isn’t the same as WWI which DADA was birthed from. WWI separated families and sent millions of people to war across the ocean. For covid-19 though, many are given the opportunity to hunker down and stay indoors with their families. Covid-19 is still incredibly scary, don’t get me wrong, but I think a world war resulting in the deaths of millions from gunfire and explosives was more frightening.
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While I am hopeful that things will return back to normal it is unlikely that we will be making that shift anytime soon. On the brighter side, I do believe we have seen some good during this whole thing. We have buffed up our medical system, we have gotten closer to our families than we have ever been in the past and we have found new ways to work from home. Yes, this definitely has been a rough time for many but this rough patch will only make our country stronger as a whole. One thing I have been noticing is a large influx of people making art. Looking on websites like Behance and Dribbble, there is some amazing work that people have been producing. Similar to the dada movement, artists are creating work related to the time/situation we are in. The art I am seeing is symbolic of hope of a better future, art thanking those in the medical community that have risked their lives to help those in need as well as a lot of community/family-oriented graphics. It is really refreshing to see! I wish everyone the best and hopefully, we are headed towards a brighter future soon:)
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I definitely do not think life will go back to how it was in 2019 after this pandemic plays out. Much of the work force who are able to work remote will stay remote – I know a few smaller companies and startups that have realized many of their employees actually performed better when they were working from home, and do not see the purpose in renting out an office space. The lockdown has also been a time of reflection for a lot of people in their isolation, and I think many people have grown a greater appreciation for others, for social interaction, and might value their loved ones more due to this. However, socially and politically, our country has never been more divided than it is now, other than during the Civil War. It is somewhat scary to think about what our country specifically will look like in a year, especially with the pending election. But with the chaos and fear permeating the country at the moment, there is a lot of art that has been and will be created as a response to the current situation. No matter what is happening in the world, no matter when or where, art is always present. Artists never stop creating, and from that we get a glimpse into what was happening and how people felt during those times, and the only thing I can say for sure is that years from now, there will be art that will live on from this time of crisis that people can look back on.
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Unfortunately, I don’t see the world approaching anywhere near the normalcy we experienced in the previous year. This unprecedented pandemic has already brought about a multitude of detrimental effects to life as we know it, whether directly or indirectly. For those who have been fortunate enough to fend off the virus or haven’t had anyone dear to them experience it, perhaps some sort of recuperation may be possible, but for those whose loved ones have had their lives claimed, life may never appear to be normal again. Although, like World War I and the Dada movement, perhaps this dark time in history may give rise to the creation of something extraordinarily unique that helps us move on and look onward.
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I believe that life is anything but normal. In history, unfortunate catastrophes and diseases have taken place like the bubonic plague and chicken pox. Humanity has managed to work through those unfortunate events and find a cure for most diseases. In life anything is bound to happen and I think it is up to us to adapt to those changes if we have the chance to. As for Covid-19 I have faith that things will eventually go back to normal. We have to have faith in order to create change. Most people might think that is overly optimistic but I think optimism is what we all need during a pandemic or life changing event. The coronavirus pandemic has impacted many people emotionally and financially and it is past our “2019 normality.” I believe this pandemic has woken people up. There was some sort of comfort that was taken away from us. Now that comfort has been replaced with paranoia. If things do change it will take some time to get back that normality. Wars and pandemics are completely different but both cause paranoia and anxiety. I would believe the Dadaists were also feeling the same emotions we are and their way to cope with those emotions was through art during a hopeless time. We have already transitioned to a new reality that is less comfortable but I think what people miss the most is that comfort to do things like before. After Covid maybe people will be more aware about germs and viruses than they were before . Now we have to second guess things and be more cautious about our social lives. I think art for Dadaists was a way to express their emotions during hard times. I think this pandemic has also brought more creativity and has been an opportunity for people to reflect on life and reconnect with people.
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Unfortunately, I don’t think life will return to what is considered a sense of normality. Not like 2019 at least. But 2019 wasn’t that great of a year either so I’m not sure why people want to return to that. This pandemic has forced us to face a lot of our fears head on and address problems that we have been neglecting for a long time. The problem is people. This pandemic has exposed the hypocrisy in people in a way that it hasn’t been able to in out generation. People are literally saying one thing and then doing the opposite. One good example is panic buying. People are saying that they aren’t doing that and then buying thousands of rolls of toilet paper and bottles of water to last multiple lifetimes, and then come back and say they’re not like those crazy panic buyers. Another example is people saying to always wear your mask and then blatantly going into public without one. This Pandemic has exposed how intellectually dismembered people are. And then they get mad because they know it, but continue to do the same old things. Even when this pandemic passes something will replace it. It won’t be as large as Covid-19, but people will blow it up into something that it doesn’t need to be, over and over again, and it will become another pandemic. People are people in the end.
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I believe that it will still take several years to return to the normalcy we had before the pandemic. We all do part of our daily routine still, but only in a different way. We only limit what we do outside until we get a cure. We still get an education, buy food, buy groceries, shop, but now it is mostly online. A lot of people had to get unemployment checks just to survive, and most industries have sufficient health and safety protocols for those who have been working still. Times have been really hard recently, but after a few years, we should get back to where this world was and maybe even further. I believe that we have progressed as a society during this pandemic in terms of unity and it will continue to get better as time goes by.
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The Dada art movement rejected the logic of a modern capitalist society, and instead expressed anti-bourgeois protests. They were often satirical and made to be nonsensical, however it was a serious form of protesting the war at the time. Much like today, where we are going through a pandemic, multiple movements protesting justice for black lives and lgbtq+, I totally understand the satirical themes they inhabited. While social media is prevalent today, art forms are wide and subjective. A simple meme on your phone can be an art form, and I sure do see a lot of those today. Most satirically depict the pandemic in some way, poke fun at the election, etc. etc. The cynicism the people felt before is still prevalent today, and I think people will always find new ways to cope with the realities of life unfolding before them and change will always find its way in our society.
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Dada was a nonsensical expression in a non-sensical world but it was SERIOUS! It was Serious Art! Dada was born out of negative reaction to the horrors of the First World War. It was a way of expression and revolt against the horrors that were happening at the time. Best I could describe is as would be a protest in art of the current events. In our time we may not have something as powerful as the dada movement but there is still a movement as we referred to them as memes to express our feeling in the unjust we have been feeling as well as our comical views.
I personally feel like there will always be a fear in humans after this pandemic . I don’t really believe that things will completely go back to normal. So much has happened since the pandemic . Not just the loss of so many people but as well as the protesting of black lives matter movement. I don’t believe the change is bad and honestly might help early generation because they are speaking there voice now instead of letting the boomer generation have all control.
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I have faith that we’ll be returning to the “old” lifestyle when a solution to the social distancing will be developed in the future(whether it’s a vaccine or something else). But a part of it will never return, the pandemic has and will continue change most of our habits in a life-long span. “Change” will be made and movements such as Dadaism is one of the many products resulted in these harsh, drastic, changes. Dadaism is “Louder than loud” by accelerating changes into a surreal, almost unacceptable paste of speed.
I believe there is already enough fast paste changes in the world, most of it involves with technology. There’s yet a Dadaism-like movement that has happened in the field of technology yet because of a basic market research will show that people will not accept anything considered weird. But there’s only a thin line between “new” and “weird”, only time can tell which is which.
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You don’t think that masks are here to stay in some capacity or another? We have a culture that was used to sucking it up and going to work while sick. This is a solution that people could utilize even when masks aren’t mandatory anymore.
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To me I do think we will eventually get back to the world of 2019 but I don’t think that will happen for a long long while. We will be wary of another outbreak of some disease happening for a while due to how poorly this was handled and is still being handled by those in power. I do believe that we will be more cautious of sickness and us wearing masks when we are sick will be something we adopt and will stick with for a while.
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These days, we are witnessing a significant and rapid change in all areas of life. COVID-19. I believe after the pandemic, our normal will change.
Society became aware of its surroundings, people in other countries, the world. As a result of this period, people will be more sensitive, knowledgeable, and loyal than ever. Living the moment, living the present will make sense. Even activities that seem very simple in daily life will be valuable. How simple these activities used to be will become meaningful after this period. When people lose these beauties, their awareness increases, so people’s feelings of thinking too far ahead, planning too much, just living in the future will change. They will realize the importance of today and start enjoying the day. For a while, selfish lifestyles were at the forefront. But it turns out that this is not the case. A disease on another continent can affect us too. Everything has become global. The world has become very small. As communication increased, so did people’s interaction with each other. Problems experienced anywhere in the world affected everyone. Therefore, the issue of a country, a region will no longer be a problem of a race, but a global problem. And people will be more sensitive to this. So the world will be ‘We.’ It will change people’s habits and ways of thinking. First of all, they will pay much more attention to hygiene. People who do not take care of their health will be excluded. Besides, after this period, we may encounter more thrifty people. The number of people going out, going to clubs, restaurants, theaters, and social places will decrease for a certain period.
The concept of freedom will also change altogether. People who previously thought they were free and lived freely will realize how dependent they are on other people. They will understand that freedom is limited. Margins will be further restricted afterward. All people in the world are connected. People can adapt to all these innovations at different speeds, and a lack of synchronization can lead to incompatibilities. The entropy is always there anyway.
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During the rise of COVID-19, when people were holing up at home and buying toilet paper en masse, this statement was everywhere. We witnessed lives uprooted and turned upside down by the virus, and it seems like such a surreal overturn in what we consider “normal.” Coming up on 9 months in lockdown, I doubt that our society will ever be the same. Many of the things that we’ve done in years past seem so careless and dangerous in the context of a pandemic. How did we surround ourselves with so many people everyday? Why weren’t we encouraging masks when people were sick? How were we so unprepared for a deadly disease? The swiftness in which COVID affected us all is almost surreal, and much like Dada, we are seeing people erupt in frustration and anger at the significant change in their lives. Quarantine and the pandemic have been written about, criticized in art and have been the subject in countless memes, and I think this outpouring of content online reflects our society trying to make sense of this nonsensical historical event.
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I honestly don’t see us returning to “normalcy” at all. The way the pandemic was able to spread shows how vulnerable we are and shows us that we as a society aren’t able/willing to make sacrifices for the good of our society. How many times before this did we go to work and school while sick because we couldn’t afford to take the time off of work or we wouldn’t have been able to make-up an important exam? When I got diagnosed with Covid I was 100% not expecting to have it. While I was standing in line for the test I was thinking that I have gone to work feeling way worse (of course I did get way worse days later) and how I was just trying to do the right thing so I could go to work the next day with a clear conscience.
It would be interesting to see how the world changes after the worst of the pandemic ends. I believe masks are going to stay in some capacity. There are cultures even before Covid that would wear masks if they had to go out in public while experiencing a cold. Not only are we in the middle of a pandemic, but at least here in the US we are experiencing social unrest. This should be a huge turning point in our country, and honestly, things shouldn’t go back to the way things were before. When events such as these happen there is a reaction to them, like Dada in the art world was a reaction to WWI. It’s absurd to think that things wouldn’t change.
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BTW we already have some art referencing the great toilet paper crisis of 2020 and you guys will be fools to think I’m not going to reference toilet paper at least once before I graduate. I’m here to have a great time and make some money!
-Someone who was actually out of toilet paper and needed some in March
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Arron Adams
Art 473-1001
To be perfectly honest, this whole Covid-19 business has not really effected me all that much. Between being an introvert, having minor social anxiety, and having a family member to help take care of, things are not actually terribly different for me from the way things were before. I realize that this is a rather boring answer, but, honestly, I’m a rather boring person for the most part.
Will things go back to the way they were for everyone else? Probably not quite, but I expect things will mellow out somewhat in a few years; hopefully with a better idea of how to properly handle a pandemic in case something more dangerous comes along in future.
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The pandemic global experience will definitely determine another “new” reality of life, yet it is still to soon to tell. I see the pandemic as a situation, which the wealth has the game, whereas the weak and poor suffers. This situation hides things from the surface, it takes time to reveal its true impact. To me, I see many individualists, and selfish people. Although they are prevalent in our life, I am still amazed by how irresponsible, careless, even to the degree of evil, that some people can be. In a way, I am losing my faint hope in the human race. None the less, I hope to see what kind of art that can restore faith and belief.
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Our new reality started the moment the pandemic hit. We have had to implement new measures in everything we do. Many shop online now, only one person goes grocery shopping, keep the social distance and have our facemasks on. Most of us already carried our little bottles of hand sanitizers but now for the most part we have one in every space we frequent.
Although our country has not had the best reaction to the pandemic, it is hard to blame just the people when for many of us are just trying to survive economically. Many risk our own health to be able to live with a roof over our head and have bread on the table. For this reason I think it can be quite difficult to go back to everything we were used to, and if it ever does, I doubt it will be soon.
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I definitely think our “normal” has been affected by Covid-19, and while at some point we might return to a reality that has some semblance to how it was a year ago, there’s a lot that has changed that will have a permanent impact on our everyday life. The way we treat illness and our awareness of it, the way we work, and our mental health effects are all going to be permanently impacted moving forward. And while Dada stemmed from life during WWI, I think any sort of reactionary movement in our day in age is going to be a bit harder because there’s definitely still pressures to work to sustain our livelihoods, and I think that a lack of security, mental health issues, and the merging of work with home life has a very large impact on how we express ourselves artistically.
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Our society and everyday lives have changed (for the worse or better) for everyone. I think there is a point in time, just like Dada, where artists created this kind of art because how their lives were affected. People were unhappy and everything in life was absurd and the art reflected that. Through out this pandemic, millions and millions of art and design has been created as a reflection of how much has been affected. Some are in agony, some has use this time to pick up a new hobby or start a self improvement journey. We all had different reactions and ways to cope with the changes. But just like how Dada was never forgotten and gave birth to other styles of art, things created during and because of COVID-19 will leave a legacy of how human will move forward from it.
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