In every possible way, the pandemic has influenced artists. When I started school in the fall of 2020, there were no guarantees and no introduction. I feared having to justify my decision to loved ones and strangers alike, so I avoided the topic altogether.

It’s strange how little and how much things have changed in 2 years.

As I lay in bed, finally having my luck run out and contracting covid, I think it’s a good time to talk about this piece in particular.

It became clear early on that this piece was concerned with anxiety. Initial iterations had tall, imposing towers of gloves. This presentation is much more reserved. As the viewer walks by, the piece acknowledges their presence with motion sensing lights, activating these mindless molecules for the deadly purpose. Though it goes without saying that the visual of playfully squished gloves is ridiculous. For me, I feel that this balance between deadly serious and whimsical permeates my entire thesis and aligns itself to the alien qualities of the passive body.

The most integral aspect of this piece has not yet been acknowledged, that being my dad! Relationships were required to adapt during the pandemic. My dad and I shared in our feelings, both existential and immediate, over the phone and during holidays. Like a true engineer, he helped solve my very real issues with thermodynamic (fun fact: gloves deflate fast with hot lights) and used the piece’s flaw to give it a new dimension entirely. His motion-sensing system is a work of art on its own. But it has become such a critical part of the piece, he of course gets equal billing.

N.M. Milkovich

N.M. Milkovich