In a year of massive upheaval, what is the role of art and why does art matter?
Below are excerpts of interviews from three student-artists on their current art projects and what art means to them.
Interviews have been edited and condensed for clarity. Header image by Anna He.
CURRENT ART PROJECTS
New piano pieces. Band performances. 2D animation. Throughout the pandemic, student-artists are pursuing their passions to diversify their skillsets, build community, and creatively communicate COVID information.
Q: Krishna, what music pieces have you been working on during the pandemic?
A: I’m working on the “Pathetique Sonata” by Beethoven and “Spiritual Suite” by Margaret Bonds. She’s an African American composer of the 20th century. And I think what’s super cool about it is, you know, I went [into Duke] as a classical musician. I think one of the biggest things we hear is diversity in repertoire. And I think sometimes the way we think about that is like different skills you show as a musician, right, like playing fast. Like, obviously, this is a simplification, but playing fast music versus slow music, playing a certain style.
But I think we also need to think about diversity in terms of the composers we’re playing, right? Because classical music is traditionally a very racially homogenous field, basically, like white men. To be blunt about it. So it’s nice to really kind of focus on people who aren’t as well known in the classical world or who have not been given the same attention. “
Q: Max, You’ve been performing music around campus this semester as part of your band, W4VE. What’s that like?
A: It was a very positive experience because we haven’t played for that sort of audience in a long time. For most of the pandemic, we have been helping out local bars in restaurants in New Jersey. I absolutely love playing at those settings, but you don’t have the same foot traffic you get playing outside. When we are playing a new Taylor Swift song as people are distanced and eating their dinner or just walking by, it’s nice to know that we can create a sense of community and togetherness through our music.
Q: Alexa, you’ve been working on a health humanities art project this semester, a 2D animation on COVID vaccines. What’s the goal of your project?
A: That goal ultimately is going to be to promote COVID vaccine awareness and try to encourage underserved populations to get the vaccine. So we’ve been doing a lot of research connecting with different groups in Durham and the community to try and spread the word as much as possible, and get data from our target audience to make sure that the product that we’re making aligns a lot with the issues that these communities face in getting the COVID vaccine out.
So acknowledging historic distrust of doctors and medical institutions because of historic racism, and focusing on making sure that the animations are appealing; working with aesthetic experts to make sure that our color scheme and color palette match what is the most appealing for people visually and what claims of the animation styles are most appealing visually, so we don’t end up with that more corporate looking animation that’s disjunct from our target population.
Q: WHAT DRAWS YOU TO ART?
Our student-artists reveal that art is a powerful medium to connect emotionally with other people and with themselves.
A: [Performing music] is something I’ve always wanted to do. When I was five years old, I watched Free Willy and one of the songs in the backtrack of that movie “Will You Be There” by Michael Jackson. Because of that movie, I became really into marine biology and pop music. Following my passions is something I’ve always done. Before I started the first grade, I knew I wanted to be a musician and a marine biologist, and now I’m studying marine biology and performing.
There’s definitely a lot of crossover between creativity in music and biology, especially if you’re designing experiments. In both of them, you take an idea that isn’t exactly tangible and transform it into something to share with others. You’re taking something internal and making it into something that other people can enjoy.
I also really like talking to people and hearing their stories. Sometimes I’ll play a song that’s been off the radio for a while but was really big a couple of years ago, and it takes you back to that moment when you first heard it, and you can sense that everyone else feels that too. It’s different from just playing a song alone because when you play live, you are sharing the listening experience with many people.
A: Art has always been a kind of way for me to channel my emotions and feelings both overtly and covertly. And it’s always been something that allowed me to express myself. And so I think in that way, I feel like art helps me make sense of my life, for lack of a better phrase.
I think it’s become a little bit more of an escape sometimes from the stress and kind of a lot of the negative emotions that can come from living through a pandemic. So it’s really been more so just kind of a channel for me to find some positivity in my life.
Q: HOW HAS COVID CHANGED THE WAY YOU VIEW ART OR ARTS COMMUNITIES?
Art is essential. Moving forward, our student-artists hope that art can continue to enrich our lives and become a more inclusive space for people of all backgrounds.
A: Art is so important in COVID. Like COVID has taught me that art is essential. You can’t have a functioning world without art. Like, when we all first got locked in what did everyone do? Watch Netflix, listen to music, that’s what you did, you consumed art. Without art, you would have been bored out of your minds. I think either creating or consuming art, I think everybody did in one way or another.
So I think that [COVID] definitely taught me art is so essential to the world, and I’ve always felt this way, I’ve always felt like the world needs art in order to have a good… life? Way of living? I just feel like having a creative mind lets you be more open about the world, and I think that if people have a better understanding and appreciation for art’s role in history and art’s role in the world, then people will be more open-minded and have better perspective, more understanding of each other…
Like I’ve always felt that art is such a great kind of community, and I feel like in the pandemic we need that more than ever.
A: I think a big thing, especially given last summer, is the need to kind of incorporate a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion in student arts groups. And I think the main thing that really comes to mind for me, is promoting accessibility of student arts groups, to students who may come to Duke, but may not have had art experience that people like me were fortunate to have. So thinking about how we can kind of engage or engage those students in them feel comfortable in finding a community and Duke student arts groups, because I think those of us who are involved in these communities can really attest to how much we enjoy being a part of them.
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