InfoChammel, The Best TV Channel That's Always On
InfoChammel’s President and CEO, Fred Furner, was supposed to host an interactive media extravaganza called “A Better Way to HDTV" at the Design Museum of Chicago Satellite Gallery at the Cards Against Humanity HQ in Chicago from March 27th thru May15, 2020. The Pandemic got in the way and it was postponed.
Helping Charities While Socially Distanced
Communities already battling poverty, disinvestment, lack of medical care, food desserts, violence, and housing insecurity are the least able to weather the storm of the pandemic, as well as the shelter in place mandates that keep us all safe. They need your help. Now.
Shhhhhhicago
So I ride. Two Friday nights in a row. My adventure took me to the Route of Silence and emptiness, Shhhhhhicago. That is what I wanted to focus on in this mini-series. Being alone, being in my own mind, SILENT in this huge city we call Chicago, but while treading safely. I wanted my photography to portray the impact and effects of what COVID-19 is doing in the city’s live entertainment world. I am not the only one suffering the economic consequences at this time, more people are, and what we do not realize is that there’s a large industry that matters, waiting patiently to be reconnected with humanity, to be heard or appreciated. In the mid-time, here is my night journal of the new Friday nights in the life of a city.
Street Gloves and Masks
Found Masks and Gloves photographed by Kuna Na.
The Guys
Chef Caleb Trahan shares the non-traditional transition his kitchen has faced during the pandemic. From new recipes to an instagram account, his kitchen staff continues to learn and grow through these strange times. The Schwa Chef de Cuisine also shares a comfort food recipe for you to try at home.
Pandemic in the Cook County Jail
An Interview with a Young Unconvicted CCJ Inmate’s Mother by Diana Berek
Artist and activist, Diana Berek, shines a light on the dangerous conditions many inmates at Cook County Jail face in her interview with an anonymous mother. Due to overcrowding, lack of medical attention, insufficient food, and subpar sanitary conditions inmates are at high risk for contracting the virus.
Quarantine Comics: Clay Hickson
An illustration by Clay Hickson.
Letters in the time of Corona
Ida Cuttler turns to letter-writing as a form of intimacy and human connection during isolation. In collaboration with friend Catharine Savage, she is accepting requests for handwritten, personalized letters.
CRONE OF IRIS
we are all stuck in a holding pattern of frustrated fate~ i read somewhere that we should look to the bees for ways to weather an epidemic~ in this case i would say rather that we should look to the bats 🦇
Comics: Quarantine Days 8 - 13, by Grant Reynolds
Quarantine Day 8-13 in the life of artist Grant Reynolds.
WELCOME TO BELLONA
In response to Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany, artist Valentina Zamfirescu built a virtual world that relies on our peripheral instincts, experiences and feelings. Using audio fragments from “Dhalgren” and video of the artist world building in the 3D editing software Unity, Zamfirescu invites you to explore a new reality.
Unschooling the Heart
In the second installment of Inactive Effort, Diddle Knabb chronicles the highs, lows and sheer insanity of co-parenting during a stay-at-home order. “Unschooling the Heart” shares an honest, strange family portrait of ex spouses, new babies, homeschooling and Tiger King photoshoots.
Quarantine Comics: "..." by George Porteus
A new comic from veteran Lumpen Magazine contributor, George Porteus
The Show Must Go Online
The Show Must Go Online by Clare Austen-Smith
Chicago based stand-up comedian, Clare Austen-Smith, navigates finding live audience connection online.
“The best way to think of it, for me, is that it’s not an attempt at recreation. It’s something new. It doesn’t mean it can’t work; it just has to be different.”
How I Am Getting Through This: Home Preservation
Right now, a string of mushrooms hangs from my partner’s window. We placed them there. We pierced the larger shitakes with needle and thread and sowed bags of cheesecloth for the more fragile mistakes. Neither of us has dried anything before, but we both have memories from our childhood homes.
GHOST TOUCH
GHOST TOUCH is a series of images and poetic text by SANTIAGO X, M.Arch, MFA is an Indigenous futurist and multidisciplinary artist specializing in land, architectural, and new media installation.
QOVID Operations
Quimby’s manager and self-publisher Liz Mason, shares the day-to-day experience as the only remaining employee of Quimby’s bookstore.
“I have always joked about Quimby’s Bookstore (purveyor of weirdo small press zines, comics and books) that I’ve managed for almost two decades in Chicago, ‘My job would be better if it was just me.’ Well, be careful what you wish for.”
Apply for the Arts For Illinois Relief Fund
I just applied for funding and this is beyond easy. I highly recommend anyone who is a “practicing artist” fill this out ASAP. They are only reviewing for eligibility- not quality, content, or financial need. It’s two very short statements on art and how COVID has affected you and 3 examples of recent work. Go do it now!
Life Before (No.2): After Image
After Image is a short animation by Sonnenzimmer exploring inner image, isolation, and self reflection. Created during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020, the work aims to tap into the emotional reverberance of the now common activity, the daily walk.
People are dying in Cook County jails. Here's how to help them.
The first confirmed death of an incarcerated person from COVID-19 in Illinois happened yesterday. Their name is not yet released, but when it is we will lift up their memory. As we mourn the dead, we continue to fight like hell for the living.