Corona Diary

Corona Diary

„I get up, drink a coffee, go to my workplace, which is only a few metres away from my bed. Home office. I have contact with others via the screen, my window to the world. Sometimes the internet fails and I am thrown back on myself. My world has become very small in recent months. I am only allowed to go outside if I have a good reason. The government tells me what exactly constitutes a “good reason”. My movements are regulated, my fundamental rights censored. Because we have to stick together. But who are we? Individual expressionless figures under mandatory masks move in orbits like comets, always careful not to enter each other’s orbits. I also move along these same paths at the same pace. One day is like the next. In my memory, they blur into a rhythm whose monotony makes me numb. Small things suddenly become big, like this piece of paper in my hand. It is proof that I am still here.“

The work “Corona Diary” elevates the shopping receipt to iconic status. Inconspicuous receipts are scaled up to oversize and their print is heavily stylised until only fragments of the original character set remain. Each line is drawn by hand, creating a contrast between the machine-generated template and an analogue, time-consuming implementation. The quality of the materials used contrasts with the rapidly fading print of the template on thermal paper. In this work, a rhythmic-looking code becomes a metaphor for the reality of life in times of pandemic. Anonymity, monotony and loneliness are reflected in this image.