Creativity during COVID-19: Web offers fun, connection
As the fear of COVID -19 pushes us apart, people are finding comfort in the creativity that they share online.
“It’s just part of the zeitgeist and entertaining each other from a distance,” said Carl Neustaedter, a former managing editor of the Ottawa Citizen who’s been amusing a wide circle of friends on Facebook and Instagram with his homage to architecture that he fashions from old Ikea boxes.
“I’m getting a lot of inspiration from seeing what other people are doing — the concerts and music and people doing things like sketching clubs.”
Neustaedter bought Ikea shelves as part of a home renovation project. As he gathered up the boxes for recycling, he was struck by how much they looked like buildings. His first creation was “seaside hotel,” photographed with one of his daughter’s paintings as a backdrop.
Next came “beach house” and “condo towers,” then an Ikea recreation of Frank Lloyd Wright’s masterpiece, Fallingwater. His self-imposed rules are no glue, no cutting and use nothing but the boxes.
Requests started coming in. He did the Winnipeg Art Gallery and the National Gallery of Canada as seen from inside the entrance ramp. It took him two days to figure out how to do the National Arts Centre’s Kipnes Lantern, complete with illumination supplied by bike lights.
“I thought, ‘How do I make cardboard look like glass?’ It’s a lot like building stage props, but that’s the challenge of it,” he said.
Neustaedter’s creativity is a sideline from his day job as manager of creative and language services at the Canadian Institute for Health Information — a job he’s now doing from home.
For others, like Ottawa singer-songwriter Lynne Hanson, creating is her day job. Hanson is in 14 days’ self-isolation after cutting a European tour short to fly home to Canada. She’s turned to performing on Facebook and YouTube for a virtual audience.
“It’s given me a purpose,” she said.
Hanson has cancelled 40 tour dates and rebooking is difficult because every artist is in the same boat, postponing shows and trying to rebook. Fresh off recording a new CD, Hanson’s income has dropped to zero.
“It’s a financial disaster,” she said. Hanson plans to stream an all-request show this Sunday from her home. Anyone can watch for free, but she also has a Patreon page where those who are able can contribute.
“I get people telling me all the time that my music makes them feel good. I can’t fix anything, but if I can make someone’s day better ...”
Others, famous and not-so-famous, have also found an outlet on the web. Montreal Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher posted a Tik-Tok video of his one-man re-enactment of a scene from the TV show Brooklyn 99 (it turns out he can sing as well as score goals).
Singer Martha Wainwright staged a Leonard Cohen singalong from her apartment balcony. Montreal Gazette reporter Chris Curtis remade scenes from movies like Gladiator and The Terminator with his cat in a co-starring role.
Illustrator Mo Willems, author of the Pigeon series of children’s books, has posted sketching videos on YouTube. Actor Patrick Stewart — Star Trek’s Capt. Jean-Luc Picard — has been reciting Shakespeare.
Comedian Alex Edelman (@AlexEdelman) invites people to post photos of their canned goods on Twitter, and then supplies a candid character assessment. Sample for a can of Sweet Sue’s canned chicken: “Threw a hissyfit on antiques roadshow because they valued her grandpa’s watch at $98. Made such a stink that her segment never aired.”
Meanwhile, Neustaedter is brainstorming ways he can fashion his Ikea boxes into the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, a curvy architectural masterpiece by Canadian Frank Gehry.