175g of electro nic dev ices
This work was created with a young persons’ drama group based in Malpas, Cheshire as part of a larger project titled ‘Reflections’ to explore a range of views in rural communities of the Covid 19 pandemic. Talking about the pandemic with this group of young people was challenging because the majority of the group would have only been 9 or 10 years old at the time. Others in the group said that they were ‘very sad’ during the lockdown. We used drama exercises to open up the subject of the pandemic and to find ways for the group to talk confidently about themselves. We were also exploring the creative opportunities that the subject offered for the group as young theatre makers. Restaging or talking through those tasks gave us a vivid picture of what life was like during the lockdown, but it also gave the group some imaginative scope for their drama work.
Many of our games focused on specific tasks rather than emotions or abstract concepts. What were you doing at that time? Where did you spend most of your time? Who did you talk to? What games were you playing?
We dramatised concepts that came out of our conversations: How can two people be together but apart at the same time? How would you stage a video game or a text message? How can we stage the feeling of dislocation/weirdness we felt in the pandemic, performing habitual tasks in the ‘wrong’ places?
175g of electronic devices, 1 tbsp of loneliness, 3g of food, 1 1/2 tsp of Face Time calls
Method Sift the loneliness into a large bowl and ad
dd the Face Time calls and the food. Bake for 20 days.
And repeat. And repeat. And repeat. And repeat. And repeat. And repeat. And repeat. And repeat. And repeat.
When we couldn’t see each other, we sent messages: U alive? Help me How are U doing? I’m bored What R U doing? Can U call now? Nice 2 C U through yr window 2day Please reply back
“So I remember when we went back to school and I think the hardest bit was just talking to people and interacting with people because obviously when you’re inside for so long you sort of just say things through screens and you’re not having actual conversations with people. So when you go back it’s that awkward phase when you don’t really know what to say to people, cos you’re really close to these people but you haven’t actually talked to them so its like ‘Yeah, how are you?’ and you don’t really know what to say cos you’re not used to being there. And there’s the overwhelming stuff of a load of people coming back and nobody’s really used to that. And it’s just hard to interact with people because your brain kind of forgets how to actually have a proper conversation with people. Like in person.”
The COVID-19 pandemic has had an enormous impact on all of us, transforming the way we live, work and socialise. Open Eye Gallery and Chester and Cheshire West Council are working with residents and communities from across the borough to reflect on this time and preserve their thoughts for future generations in a project called COVID-19 Reflections. Using portraiture, staged imagery, video and audio recordings, photographer Tadhg Devlin has captured the diversity of experiences and views on life for those living rurally during the COVID-19 pandemic. Whilst some felt particularly isolated in their setting, others felt their industries were protected through initiatives like the furlough scheme. The project has resulted in three artworks: a photographic series co-designed and produced with young people from Malpas and individual rural farmers, mirroring their day-to-day experiences of lockdown, a video piece representing a range of collective rural voices, and a newspaper bringing the whole project together.
What about when you went along to the private view at the Open Eye Gallery? What did you think? “That was amazing, I loved it. It felt proper weird though when I first went in because I expected it to be like, you know small, but it was massive. And just seeing that one picture of my face and what I wrote on a massive big scale was really, really cool. But it was also weird at the same time.” Do you think being part of this project has made you more connected to culture and art? “I think it’s been a good opportunity to get more connected to culture and those types of things because you can do all these things with groups and stuff, but unless you go to the event, you never really experience the full extent and range of it. I think it makes you more connected to it all. Do you think culture happens more in cities rather than rural areas? “Culture is for anyone and everyone you can’t really say that it’s just for city people.” Thanks to all the participants involved with this work: Edie, Olivia, Zara, Joe and Rosa along with their amazing drama teacher Ellen who helped enormously to make the project a success. Thanks also to Minerva Arts who have supported the work throughout.
COVID-19 C OVI VID D-19 19