Colosseum

Posted on by Thor

I  keep trying to find a way to illustrate the toll that Covid-19 has taken here in America. As of this writing, June 1, 2020, according to World O Meter, 106,878 people have died in the United States from the virus. I decided to find out which football stadium has the highest seating capacity and found that Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, can seat 107,420 people. By the time this painting posts, that seating capacity may have been surpassed, or soon will be surpassed, by the number of people who have died from Covid-19. I then started thinking about how the protests across the country are playing out in real time on social media platforms. It is as if Twitter and Facebook have become the modern day equivalents of the Roman Colosseum. What if the dead are watching the violence unfold from their stadium seating?

Many are watching events unfold from the safety of their home isolation while others are being shot at by police with rubber bullets and tear gas. President Trump was hidden away in a White House basement bunker as protests in Washington D.C. resulted in fires burning all around the White House. The nation wide protests will certainly result in a spike in Covid-19 infections.

Police are also shooting at, macing, and arresting reporters who the president dubs “the enemy of the people.” A young African American couple are tazered and dragged out of their car on live TV. A family watched as police marched past their home and then police shouted “Light Um Up” and they shot rubber bullets at the family when they did not get back inside fast enough. It is a dystopian nightmare. Police violence has erupted nationwide. At least two have been killed in the Nation wide protests. a 21 year old journalist had his eye ruptured by a tear gas canister in Indiana

Meanwhile 106,878 ghosts watch from their stadium seating as police cars burn. Close up and violent details can be seen on the jumbo tron and in every social media post. Racism has existed for hundreds of years but today the injustice is captured by cell phones which everyone has in hand.

An independent autopsy found that George Floyd‘s death was a homicide. He died of “asphyxiation from sustained pressure. ” That that is plain to see if you watch the cell phone footage of officer Derek Chauvin as he keeled on Floyd’s neck as Floyd begged him saying, “I can’t breath.” The officer had his knee on Floyd’s neck for eight minutes and 46 seconds in total and two minutes and 53 seconds after Floyd was unresponsive. Dr. Michael Baden said, “Police have this false impression that if you can talk, you can breathe. That’s not true,” Baden said. George died because he needed a breath. He needed a breath of air.

Flight to DC then Turkey.

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 A couple of years ago, my X and I went to Turkey to visit her niece Allison Brown
who works for the United States foreign service. At the time we visited
Allison, she said that her job might get very complicated if there was
politically charged dissent in the country. Her hotel had metal posts at
a guard booth that were intended to stop any terrorist threat of, let’s
say, a bomb filled truck. Luckily, she is now working in Washington
D.C.during the time of the present civil unrest.

Turkey has been in the news recently with a huge “March for Justice” that ended in Istanbul. Hundreds of thousands of people joined the rally in Istanbul following the 25 day long march to protest the government of president Recip Tayyip Erdogen. The government has been cracking down against any perceived threats after a failed coup last summer. The president was granted sweeping new powers after a controversial referendum in April. Erdogen claims to be cracking down on those who support militant organizations, but the government definition of what constituted backing terrorism is so broad that it has led to the arrest of thousands of civil servants, journalists, campaigners and other workers. Protesters demanded “Rights, Laws, Justice.” Also since this trip, Washington Post Journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered at the Turkish Consulate. What seemed like a gorgeous country to visit turned out to be dangerous.

The trip began with a flight to Washington D.C. where we would transfer to the international flight to Istanbul. I can never sleep on a plane, so the sketch pad invariably comes out.

It is a chance for me to check for the closest emergency exits and observe my fellow passengers.

Of course the flight from Orlando to D.C. wasn’t too long, but the flight to Istanbul was eternal. I watched plenty of movies and the progress map to pass the time after the sketch was done. Sketching on a plane is a thing that can only amuse me once a day. I don’t tend to like sitting in an audience staring at the back of heads and that is the only view available on an airplane. I can also easily pass the time watching the clouds which make amazing patterns, but this was an overnight flight which meant it was pitch black outside and everyone had their blinds down.

Crealdé Fall Session

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The Crealdé School of Art Fall sessions will be session from August 17, 2020 to October 8, 2020. The Crealdé main campus and the Hannibal Square Heritage Center reopened on Saturday, May 16, 2020.

I will be teaching an Urban Sketching Course  in the Fall but likely students will remain on campus for doing location drawings. The sketch above is an example of a quick demo I did for students on campus.

The school is initiating new safety features and health practices which will be in place until further notice.

The Crealdé School Covid-19 Safety Measures.

1. Reducing the maximum number of students in classes to 6 – 8 students depending on classroom size and medium.

2. Re configuring the studio spaces and work tables to allow for 6 feet of social distance. Classroom floors will be clearly marked in a way that student traffic and pathways utilized will not impede or intrude upon the six-foot or more social distancing.

3. Galleries and exhibition spaces will be limited to 10 visitors at a time adhering to the 6 foot social distancing guidelines.

4. On a daily basis, Crealdé and Heritage Center staff are cleaning bathrooms and disinfecting doors, handles and classroom surfaces.

5. The school staff will promote frequent and thorough hand washing by faculty, staff, students and visitors.

6. Any staff, faculty, students or visitors who are coughing, sneezing or in general not feeling well, are asked to please stay at home, and to continue to follow the directions of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or a health professional. Anyone demonstrating health issues will be asked to leave.

7. Students are encouraged to use their personal work and art tools and equipment when possible. For youth classes, separate individual “baggies” will be provided for each student’s class supplies.

8. The school is instituting regular/enhanced instructor housekeeping and maintenance/janitorial practices, including routine cleaning and disinfecting of surfaces, equipment, and other elements of the school environment after each class is dismissed.

9. Until further notice, the school strongly encourages the wearing of masks in classrooms and exhibition spaces for students and visitors.  All  instructors will be wearing masks in class.