Viral Communication 2

 

All Images: October 2020

Here's another batch of pandemic-related signage, and related material, encountered in the workplace.  As what we must now refer to as 'the second wave' breaks over us here in Britain (and, indeed - in many other locales), the limits and restrictions on everyday life contort themselves into an increasingly confusing profusion of configurations.  Generally, they seem belatedly reactive, and beset by the kind of all-to-human compromise that must surely be of little use in the face of a highly efficient (and by its very nature - disinterested) virus.

I have no doubt that the suppression of many of our perceived 'freedoms' can play a major role in suppressing the spread of Covid-19.  The resulting effects of a reasonably comprehensive, and moderately well-adhered-to (if slightly tardy) lockdown, earlier in the year, certainly seem to endorse that.  However, as the whole sorry affair drags on, crisis-fatigue ramps up, and 'miracle' cures and quick-fixes prove predictably elusive, the waters of pure, mechanistic science, and practically-focussed expediency are muddied by competing narratives.  A fear that the economic or societal side-effects might be worse than the disease itself grows.  Individual fight-or-flight responses begin to outweigh any sense of the communal good.  Cynicism, conspiracy theorising, and possibly understandable paranoia ('one rule for us - another for them'; who is already seizing power/wealth?; how much of our customary liberty will be restored, etc.) all proliferate.  Any scope for concerted, coherent action, and its implementation by consent, is further compromised.

As ever - nothing is simple, and Cock-up Theory (always my favourite of the theories) holds sway.  'Defeating' the virus (or, as I suspect is more likely, adapting sufficiently - in order to manage it as just another existential threat with which we all live) will require a variety of negotiations.  Not least amongst these will be some consensus over acceptable risk levels, over what constitutes personal or shared freedom (and how much might be sacrificial).  Equally desirable could be some consideration of what exactly is meant by this 'normal' so many are so desperate to return to, and just how desirable its unchanged restoration might really be. And, while we're at it - a little clear-eyed honesty about the vagaries of human behaviour, and less denial about certain, inconvenient Darwinian or ecological truths, probably wouldn't hurt either.

One thing I do know is that the effective untangling of all of that is far beyond the scope of this little blog.  For now, the challenge is to live each day as crisis or neurosis-free as is achievable, and to remain constructively engaged and informed by whatever meaningful information might seep through the cracks.  No real change there, then - in other words.  The maintenance of creative activity is clearly integral to that - for me, at least.  And with that goes the inevitable (and doubtless - perplexingly nerdy) cataloguing of clues and signifiers.  Hence - this post.

As already highlighted in my first survey of such material, the current crisis comes with an ever-expanding array of associated graphics - ranging from the purely functional, to the deliciously emblematic.  Indeed, such stuff appears to proliferate at a rate exceeded only by the pathogen itself.  The examples here continue to reflect the need to coax, direct, prohibit, inform or otherwise crowd-manage within an educational environment.  I have yet to conduct a survey of how much of the information is routinely studied or internally digested.  Many of these are pleasing examples I have encountered recently, whilst venturing trepidatiously into a different  'bubble'/building from that in which I routinely work.  Others are clearly designed to set the scene, and possibly reassure arriving visitors at 'front of house'.  On visual and formal grounds alone, I find the ad-hoc and festooned hazard markings on the outdoor benches especially pleasing.

Enjoy, and stay safe.