THE NAKED CITY – THE COVID CULTURE LEGACY

The Mona Lisa with a surgical mask!  If in 100 years time that image manages to survive many will wonder what the reasons were for its original appearance. Chances are, that like the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918, COVID-19 will be a distant memory. Perhaps a more virulent virus will have since swept the world and quickly erased memories of those that have preceded it.  

Nevertheless some artefacts of the current pandemic will survive, at least for social historians to ponder and help comprehend the ways we dealt with the crisis. Masks of course are currently the most visible sign of our public prevention with the majority of people prepared to wear them when required. Whereas your standard blue and white masks originally predominated it didn’t take long for some people to don their own creations as expressions of their individualism – even their status in the community. Industry soon followed with an elaborate array of fashion and sports masks, some of them costing hundreds of dollars.

Earlier this year a Russian woman was deported from Bali after wearing a blue mask painted on her face into a local supermarket and then posting on YouTube. The incident was reminiscent of the body painting craze of the 1960s but the Indonesian authorities failed to see the humour. Similar stunts have occurred in other countries, possibly as a mask wearing protest but more often as an attention grabbing prank. It’s now left for some creative publishing company to come out with a coffee table book of pandemic masks to record the current phenomenon for posterity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNnbwuEd4fg

It’s no secret that the arts have taken a huge hit during the various lockdowns. The music industry in particular has almost ground to a halt. During the initial stages of the pandemic year there was a flood of podcasts and live streaming with both audience free gigs and musicians jamming in their lounge rooms. The novelty did not seem to last long, nor did the numerous parodies of popular songs, like My Corona which originally flooded YouTube.

However in more recent times a long list of high profile artists have chosen to release their own COVID ditties – songs of hope, prevention and the difficulties of living in quarantine. Bon Jovi, Alicia Keys, Michael Buble and of course the omnipresent Bono have all pumped out tunes as have a widespread selection of country, rap and pop musicians. Whilst the public preference remains for songs that do not remind them of the current pandemic, there’s enough goodwill generated to compile an album of COVID’s Greatest Hits – available on CD, Vinyl and Spotify. Maybe the next time a probe is hurtled millions of miles into deep space a copy could be included to warn intercepting aliens that a dangerous bug lurks on earth.

Back in 1918, when the Spanish Flu swept worldwide, the recording industry was very much in its infancy. Nevertheless a number of artists, particular American blues singers like Essie Jenkins and Blind Willie Johnson chose to record their own takes on the pandemic. Both saw the spread of the virus as an act of God with Jenkins singing in her song, Influenza Blues, “It was God’s almighty plan. He was judging this old land” and “It killed the rich, killed the poor.”

Whilst a number on the nutty religious fringes in the US and in parts of Africa are peddling the message that COVID-19 is part of God’s judgement, the broader Christian community have embraced traditional and modern day hymns and gospel anthems as messages of positivity and hope. Trawl the internet and you will find numerous lists like; “30 songs to help keep your eyes fixed on Jesus during COVID-19”, as posted by the Sydney Anglicans.

Masks, music and a seemingly endless supply of COVID ‘merch’ like t-shirts, vaccinations badges, stickers and wacky coronavirus rubber helmets – they are all out there if you feel the need. Hopefully a good selection will be curated for an ongoing museum like display or collection that future generations can either mock, marvel or wonder just what the hell was going on back in 2021!