George Blair's Mind's Eye

COVID-19

Creative people produced work to amuse themselves and their friends during the lockdown and social distancing of the Covid-19 epidemic. These images and videos were circulated widely on social media to alleviate boredom and raise spirits.

Darker themes emerged as the UK and USA death rates per 100,000 were much than other countries. As well as doing much worse than other countries Dominic Cummings, Boris Johnson’s one man think tank and executive, undermined the strict lockdown measures. He drove 260 miles to stay near his relatives when he thought he might have Covid-19. Eye Sight Problems? refers to the 26 miles he drove, which according to him was to test his eyesight.

America First shows George Washington and his soldiers rowing across the Delaware, with a large supply of toilet rolls. These mundane objects were horded at the beginning of the epidemic in the UK, resulting in empty supermarket shelves. Even God and Adam observe social distancing in Thou Shall Keep Two Metres Apart.

The hopeful images in the following pages include the bittersweet triumph over adversity. Hope 1 shows a rubbers-gloved hand pushing through barren, cracked soil clasping a pristine dahlia and in Hope 2 a cherry tree in full blossom flourishes despite being rooted in a rubbish tip.