COVID 19 – Liverpool 15

During lockdown, certain once important facets of everyday life have become trivial and smaller things that may have previously seemed inconsequential have taken on greater significance. Life for us all has changed and a new way of living has become routine. The above image was created to provide an overview of lockdown life in my quiet suburb of Liverpool 15. It was created for the Museum of Liverpool’s forthcoming exhibition called ‘Collecting and representing Covid-19′.

The idea of the exhibition is to capture Liverpool people’s experiences and to enable people now and in the future to learn from and make sense of these unprecedented times. The public was invited to document the personal lockdown experience through creating a ‘mind map’. These maps could include the places you go to within your local area, your favourite things, people, pets and feelings, just a simple reflection of your world during the pandemic.

Below is a key to explain what each piece of torn paper represents. There are fifteen pieces to represent my postcode – Liverpool 15.

1. ZOOM 
As the outside world moved inside, Zoom became the essential way of staying connected with friends and family, near and far and phrases such as ‘I think you’re on mute’ and ‘turn on your camera’ became laughingly commonplace.

2. EUROVISION 
For fans, Eurovision is more than a one night event and its cancellation dealt a heavy social blow as parties across the land ground to a halt. The ‘open up’ theme suddenly felt ironic as we abruptly closed down.

3. MASKS 
Being inside meant I ate more and moved less. This led to inevitable weight gain. Creativity runs in the family and my mother fashioned bespoke face coverings for us from the beautiful textiles of shirts that no longer fitted.

4. RAINBOWS
The rainbow became an icon that the country adopted to show appreciation of NHS staff and other key workers. It was lovely to see such a symbol of optimism radiating from windows during such a bleak period. 

5. WINE 
Prolonged online group chats were regularly fuelled by wine. This is definitely not good for the body but as we all adapted and found our ways of coping, mental health had to take priority over physical health. Whatever gets you through…

6. MUSIC 
Kraftwerk ignited my lifelong love for electronic music. The week prior to lockdown, the last live concert I attended was by former member, Wolfgang Flür. Shortly after this another former (founding) member, Florian Schneider died.

7. RUBY
Our dog loves company so lockdown was a gift. I used my creativity to help raise funds for Beagle Welfare by dressing Ruby up in ludicrous hats, ties and socks. We raised close to £200 and managed to laugh during the darkest of days. 

8. NEWS
Daily Government briefings became essential viewing as each day we tuned in to hear the latest grim statistics. I am not a fan of this Government and grew increasingly frustrated by what seemed at times to be a chaotic response.

9. PODCASTS
Finding time to create podcasts isn’t easy, their production can be time consuming and complicated. Lockdown afforded me time to produce some new episodes of my own and opportunities to collaborate with others.

10. COMMUNITY
Ironically, staying inside was the thing that ended up connecting many communities.  WhatsApp and Facebook groups sprang up to help the more vulnerable and keep us essentially connected. I couldn’t resist designing a logo for our local group.

11. DESIGN
Every design project I had booked in for 2020 was postponed indefinitely so I diverted my early creative energies into a range of COVID-19 awareness materials. I used a flipped NHS logo and made the resources available for download from my website.

12. THEATRE
‘Our Lady of Blundellsands’ by Jonathan Harvey was the last thing I saw at the theatre, just a couple of days before lockdown and the show’s interruption. I understand that the stage set is still in place, frozen in time until theatres can reopen. 

13. FAMILY
My parents live a five minute walk from me but they were shielding so I didn’t see them properly for months. Popping in for lunch and a chat was replaced with birthday wishes via Facebook and shouted conversations down the path to their door. 

14. MONEY
My finances dried up during lockdown as most self-employed people felt the brunt of the economic crash that came from COVID-19. It was depressing watching my finances dwindle so I am appreciative of the grant I received.

15. TELEVISION
I don’t watch much television but there were several things I’d been planning to get around to. The lockdown provided time to switch my mind off and turn the TV on for a few things that had been recommended. ‘POSE’ was particularly captivating. Category is…

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