I’ve always been fascinated by artists employing humor in times of crisis. Surrealists and Dadaists, for instance, turned to absurdist humor during the war and postwar years; their creative audacity helped us to recognize collective trauma and inertia. At the start of the pandemic last year, following a major cultural mood swing, many artists and performers had to ask themselves whether the use of humor was still appropriate.
I watched artist Ana Prvački boldly facing our shared fear with a trilogy of video works (which was presented virtually as part of the 2020 Gwangju Biennale) just as COVID-19 began to grip the globe and the death toll was rising. Prvački released three wry videos over the course of several months, offering coping strategies for our bleak and awkward new social reality. Titled Multimask, Energetic Tickle, and The Splash Zone, they are poetic ruminations on anxiety and wellness.