May

Artists in Quarantine: A video archive of an unprecedented time

“Make art, talk to your family, read, watch a movie, move a muscle, change a thought. Stay safe.”

From Iceland to New York to South Korea, artists are hunkered down like everyone else waiting out a pandemic that has turned lives and the economy upside down.

In a new project called Artists in Quarantine, the Hirshhorn Museum is documenting these unprecedented times by having artists film short videos of themselves to serve as a living historical archive.

“It’s a snapshot into the inner lives of the artists right now,” says Hirshhorn Director Melissa Chiu. “This is a way of being able to capture this moment from an artist’s perspective.”

Chiu worked with Chicago-based artist and Hirshhorn board member Theaster Gates to select more than 100 artists to shoot short videos revealing their current living situations, their studios, and some new work created in response to issues raised by the pandemic. In a museum exhibition, viewers see only the finished artwork; these videos pull back the curtain, revealing more intimate scenes of artists and their lives.

The project was launched in April and has included videos by Gates, Shirin Neshat, Hank Willis Thomas and others. More videos will be released on a twice-weekly basis on Instagram (@hirshhorn), YouTube and the Hirshhorn’s website. The initiative is part of #HirshhornInsideOut, an ongoing effort to share the museum’s artwork and programs online while the physical museum is closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In his video, Icelandic performance artist Ragnar Kjartansson stands outside his studio in Reykjavik as the wind whips around him, blowing snow across the road. Stepping inside, Kjartansson says he was working on a project about a “horrible attack on a horrible painting of a horrible man,” but he is now home schooling his two young daughters and his art has become more personal with drawings of his family.

“Mostly, now I’m seriously working on tackling my narcissism and Googling humility and shit like that to try for some spiritual awakening to come from this crisis,” he says.

In a video shot in her studios in Manhattan and upstate New York, Marilyn Minter shows portraits she is using as references for some unfinished photorealist paintings. She offers some useful advice for everyone living through the physical and mental confines of this pandemic.

“Make art, talk to your family, read, watch a movie, move a muscle, change a thought. Stay safe,” she said.

In her video, deaf artist Christine Sun Kim, whose work explores the power and effects of sound, uses sign language to describe how her studio practice is on hiatus and she has “run out of energy to be anxious anymore.” She says her “screen time has gone up an estimated 5,000%” and she is saddened that many online videos and virtual tours don’t have captions for the hearing impaired. The videos in the Hirshhorn series also don’t have captions but there are plans to add them later, Chiu said.

The arts industry has been hammered by financial losses caused by the pandemic with an uncertain future for many organizations. The Hirshhorn is somewhat insulated as a government-funded museum that doesn’t rely on ticket revenue, but private donations help pay for some exhibitions and educational programs, Chiu said.

On the positive side, museums and other arts institutions have been pushed to expand their online presence, which could have longterm benefits for reaching a wider audience, Chiu said.

“Art can offer respite from the somewhat harrowing news cycle. Art is something that can uplift you and offer you a moment of solace,” she said. “I think judging from the interest in what museums are offering online, I think we’re seeing that. We’ve seen people turn to museums in a way that is very inspiring.”

Brendan L. Smith is a freelance journalist and mixed-media artist based in Takoma Park, Md. He is a frequent Torch contributor.