#PandemicFridge: Collaboration at a Distance

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic affected all aspects of contemporary life, from how we work to how we shop, travel, and eat. Previously banal activities such as going to the grocery store became challenging and anxiety-inducing, with a new level of danger associated with leaving one’s home. To document and respond to this global experience, Jennifer Scheuer, assistant professor in printmaking at Purdue University, and I began collaborating on a series of collages titled #PandemicFridge. The project investigates the idea of care, nourishment and sustainability through the motif of the fridge, both literal and metaphorical. Our practice emerged from the pandemic and is indelibly marked by it: the new ways of working we have developed are informed by this experience as we were forced to find workarounds and new avenues to pursue our work.