Sullivan+Strumpf Contemporary Art Gallery Sydney, Australia and Singapore - October 2020

Page 58

Last Word:

David Flack The Next Right Thing

2020 was always going to be a big year for our studio, however, every event, idea and opportunity we had our sights on seemed to evaporate in March. My sister has worked within disease management, so I knew the reality of Covid-19. I also watched the devastating affect the virus was having on Milan, a city I visit every year and hold very dear to my creative process. This was something we would live through for a minimum of 18 months, followed by a very deep and long recession. This was my fear talking. In this moment of fear, I was able to think about the hospitality, events and art-based industries who were effectively shut down without any visibility of their future. Via our Instagram, I began to promote local businesses for hospitality and artists, who very quickly worked out creative ways to maintain employment for themselves and their teams. There was no thought process, it was just an instinct and the right thing to do.

OCTOBER 2020

As the weeks began to roll past and lockdown continued, I began devouring any doco or film related to disease control, while also binging on politics, climate change and films breaking down the largest social movement the world has seen with Black Lives Matter, it was hard not to be depressed and focus on a bleak future. One afternoon, I needed something fresh and disconnected from our collapsing world. I stumbled across a documentary on the making for Frozen 2. Yes, I needed something that drastically removed. It turned out to be my biggest epiphany during 2020, and I’ve had a few.

It was quite revealing of the art process, and within moments I was excited for not only my creative future, but our ability as humans to solve the most complex of problems in a human manner. During the writing process of Frozen 2, the director Chris Buck tragically lost his adult son. He took that darkness and light into the creation of the film. In the doco, Buck openly talks about his depression, resulting in his inability to get out of bed. He was confronted with two options; follow the darkness or do one thing that will lead him in the opposite direction of fear. In this case it was getting out of bed, the next thing was to make his bed, followed by a drink of water. Very simple ideas, however in the pace of pre-2020, we somehow forgot to live in the moment and do what was instinctively right, regardless of how insignificant that action may seem. There is a scene in the film where the main protagonist ‘Ana’ has her darkest moment and she sings about her depression. It wasn’t a moment I was expecting from a Disney princess film; but it was a simple message I needed in a moment surrounded by dread; I've seen dark before, but not like this - This is cold, this is empty, this is numb - The life I knew is over, the lights are out - Hello, darkness, I'm ready to succumb - I follow you around, I always have - But you've gone to a place I cannot find - This grief has a gravity, it pulls me down - But a tiny voice whispers in my mind - You are lost, hope is gone - But you must go on - And do the next right thing.


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