Make Art

This is an unprecedented time in our history.

I don't mean the pandemic—those seem to happen or almost happen every other year—but the impact on life in general. Across the country, we’re gradually moving into a lockdown state. The ability to move freely is heavily restricted, and as a result, tough and trying times are ahead. This is where we show our mettle as a society.

The arts are more important than ever, both as a coping mechanism and as a record of the time we live in. We need to tell our story. We need to process the extraordinary things that are happening to us and the resulting post-traumatic stress that will spring forth from it. It is historically how humanity has dealt with the occasional large-scale tragedy.

1954's Gojira. You know him as Godzilla.

After 1945, Japanese art, film, and literature reflected a post-nuclear apocalypse. Thematically, it was dark and brooding. The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki left Japan fearful of radiation and gobsmacked by the scale of destruction. The ensuing

Akira. Need I say more?

reconstruction was a mammoth undertaking. The art and cinema of the time reflected that. You saw the rise of kaiju films like Gojira, and later the rise of manga and anime, all of which are still heavily influential in today's art and film.

During the Cold War, nuclear panic was reflected in American literature and film. From the giant bug movies to comic books, where radiation would grant ordinary people and/or

scientists extraordinary powers, mainstream entertainment helped us process and speak to our fears. The Vietnam War years gave the US some of its most enduring music and film, to the point where we still mine that era for inspiration. Even today, we see the panic of large-scale death from disease in the way that zombie media has crested, fallen, and is rising again.

There is no sugarcoating it: this is an uncomfortable time to be alive. Even as we’re home, surrounded by electricity, heat, running water, and all our creature comforts, we’re unable to interact with the world. We’ve become isolated from our loved ones, our friends and acquaintances, even our next-door neighbors. And while this is nothing new with the advent of social media, the context is what makes the difference. But art can keep you sane. Art can tell your story.

Use the time if you are stuck inside. Express how self-isolation affects you. You might discover a new love or a hidden talent. It could become something that will break you from the 9-to-5 when capitalism-as-usual resumes. Write something. Draw something. Sing something. Even if you have no intention of sharing it.

Make art.

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