Tag: coronavirus

Absence of Presence, 8 Scenes from the Quarantine..

(please click on an image above to expand the gallery)

Absence of Presence, 8 Scenes from the Quarantine..

I write this on April 18th at 3:55 PM, Brooklyn, NYC. I would like to share this small series of images with the intention of expressing the perplexing absence of presence that has become ever so much more, well.. present. The images have a date range taken from Tuesday, March 10th through Thursday, April 16th 2020. Wednesday, March 11th was my last day of face to face teaching as CUNY did not shut down officially until Thursday March 12th. I had an evening class on Wednesday, March 11th that runs from 5:30 PM – 9:15 PM. Only 4 students out of 25 showed up that night. Upon arriving at my classroom, I realized that the chancellor had made an official shut-down announcement that went out via e-mail and text-alert at 5 PM. We all went home after a very very brief discussion and shared the same confused sentiment.

The images above are apart of my daily transportation routine. A walking routine that has been disrupted, shut-down and replaced. I say that with conviction, it is rightfully so at this time. The images above were all taken with my iPhone 8 using the Noir filter that is a part of the default camera setting. Most of the images were taken upon immediacy from an inner nudge. The images are about the metaphor of perspective and making a connection between extreme contrasts in one’s normal visual space. However, “space” itself is also an inner thing, there is just as much inner space inside of us. Are we beginning to fill it differently and look at it taking on a new awareness? I am, are you?

This experience has reminded me, as it has before, and will continue to again and again; “expect the unexpected.” The word “life” in all of its wonders and all of its cliche’s pokes at me over and over as I stay home and ride the hills and valleys of my psychology. Not all of this is bad, we must find the sliver lining both individually and collectively. We need to feel and emote and share and help, and then repeat that process as this situation will continue for a while.

Things can change so quickly, and so suddenly, the images above are a reminder. 

The NET-ART Prof’s Take on Things..

( GIF via @giphy )

The Net-Art community runs far and wide here on the commons! I wanted to issue a statement that assists both my York & BMCC students both current and alumnus, as well as the general community of peeps checking in and contributing regularly.

So, here we are entering our second week back to classes at CUNY and adapting to our “new lives.”- I cant think of anything else to call it as of right now, so Im going with this. I say this from the perspective of integration as Im very much still in the: “Im really perplexed about how we are even in the position that we are in phase” along with having made and fulfilled so many new and mandated compliances to keep my courses going simultaneously. (That was a long sentence, too.)

Along with following all of the administrative protocol, endless zoom meetings, course updates, the reformatting-ness of everything and the staggering amount of e-mail and overall communication.. (not including connecting with family and friends) Whew, Im finally starting to reflect on things. Or wait, is my ego reflecting on what it thinks it is reflecting on? Reflection invites in ALL of the emotions and the feelings both positive and negative. And, it has been quite a bit of negative! Why am I reminded of past failures at a time like this?? We humans like routines, it helps us stay focused and structured. Uncertainty is not something we are really good at, right? Right?! OK, I produced our CT101 and MMA100 course Continuity plans for the students in this semester’s classes, I hope that it helps. Does it? Please let me know in the comments section below. If you haven’t read it for your class, please click below:

Updated CT101 – Digital Storytelling Continuity Plan here <–

Updated MMA100 – Graphic Design Continuity Plan here  <-

The NET-ART Continuity plan follows a similar flow as stated above. (I got you on this)

I know, those posts above hold a lot of information for how our classes will proceed. As I mentioned, I have put a lot of thought into how this all should proceed, but I realize, “should” is not a great word to begin with.. as things change here in NYC and around the world there may be more pivots made to re-adjust and help students adjust to the circumstances.

Im here to help, please communicate with me and let me know what I can do to help you.

( GIF via @giphy )

Can we really look at our courses: “CT101- Digital Storytelling” or “MMA100” or any of our other courses the same way? I see it as this now:

“The-name-of-your-course/ in relationship to the global pandemic CoronaVirus.”

Our first assignment moving forward is an opportunity to express this, I placed this on the individual class calendars last Thursday. Some of the responses are coming in, and they are super on point!

NET-ART-ites:

*Blog Post assignment – Please write a new blog post that expresses your feelings, concerns, frustrations and related-otherness about the current state of affairs with the CoronaVirus pandemic. How has this impacted your semester thus far? How do you feel about moving forward with our class as an online entity?

I have also thought a lot about the amount of resources that people are sharing, there is just so much being shared! First and foremost some Wi-Fi:

U.S Providers Offering FREE Wi-Fi or Special Accommodations for 60 Days (via Sara Vogel)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kjVFeWefjnEfUrCR2yXxOvsp6_rDOfaMivUEiaBreiA/mobilebasic

And, Adobe Software for the remainder of the semester (not required – but if you need or want it) –

Term-active CUNY students can now download Adobe Creative Cloud applications to their personal devices. Students can go to https://creativecloud.adobe.com and use their CUNY Login username to authenticate and select which Adobe Creative Cloud applications to install.

The student instructions on Accessing Adobe Creative Cloud are available online and will be available from the IT Resources for Remote Work & Teaching page.

And Other resources – Pixlr (is a free web based photoshop alternative) – https://pixlr.com/editor/

Please stay safe everyone!

See you all on Zoom for brief meetings, or via e-mail, text, chat,  or here on this site – please keep in touch!

rseslow@york.cuny.edu