In order to make the creative world feel a bit less lonely and a bit more connected in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, we’ve been publishing a new blog series—CoviDiaries—that brings us into the homes and minds of various designers, illustrators and other professionals, to see how they’re coping. Today’s installment comes from award-winning artist and educator Viktor Koen, who serves on the faculty of the School of Visual Arts.
When you don’t know what to do, do. And as much as I desperately look for something deep or even entertaining to share, that’s all I’ve got—doing—and that’s all I do.
Making has always been my guide though thick or thin, and what we are going through is thick. April was going to be a big month and now it won’t. But deciding to stay purposely busy instead of crying over canceled milk was crucial to getting back to work after a Saturday (three weeks ago) of spinning around the studio for hours without accomplishing a single thing. Monday morning everything was back to normal and all is better with the world, inside and even out.
Other than new assignments and ongoing client work, projects at hand include turning (an eerily prophetic) BEEN magazine cover into a PSA poster that people can print and hang at home; pushing my new gallery series forward; catching up on website updates; and finalizing the curation of a museum exhibition opening next year.
And then there’s teaching, where the full-scale mobilization, coordination and testing around remote learning, (other than initial aggravation with the new technologies one has to get used to) provided a strange feeling of togetherness with fellow faculty, and then a unique bond with students.
When commercial sanitizers are long gone, personal sanitysers are never out of stock. We can always find what we are looking for as soon as we make it.
The post Viktor Koen: “When you don’t know what to do, do.” appeared first on Print Magazine.