Anna He – West Campus Quad, Friday night 3/12 around 7 PM:
What you Hear: Guitar music (happy birthday), singing, distant audience chatter, cheering, short performer/audience conversation
What you see: Crowell Quad (between WU, Few, and Crowell), pods of students sitting together under trees on the grass, masked guitarist & singer, lit up residence halls, students walking, street lights
What is captured:
This recording captures a small student-run band singing happy birthday to a student named Ben. There is a brief back-and-forth between the band and the audience. The band is trying to figure out Ben’s name but has trouble hearing the shouts of the physically distanced audience.
Though physical distancing complicates social interaction, students still gather outdoors in small “pods” to chat. Despite the restrictions, Duke still has a bustling nightlife and this recording illuminates both the social patterns of Duke during COVID and our community’s ability to adapt.
What is absent:
The common silence brought upon most public spaces from COVID is distinctly missing from this recording, as from listening to it there is no way to know that people are physically distanced and wearing masks. In a sense, it’s impossible to understand the broader context of the pandemic that makes this such a nostalgic moment – there’s no way to know that it was months of staying inside unable to meet with larger groups has brought these students to the quad. From the recording alone, this could just be any other day pre-pandemic.
