Book Description

What has been on artists' and creatives' minds during the Covid-19 pandemic and the waves of quarantine orders that have washed over the planet? That has been the question animating the initiative STILL HERE: Moments in Isolation. Since March 2020, co-curators Roya Sachs and Mafalda Millies, alongside producer Lizzie Edelman, have invited prominent denizens in the worlds of art and culture to submit a still life image with an accompanying text, or thought, sharing their experience. Originally conceived as a digital campaign the project in collaboration with DISTANZ is now spanning across six continents. STILL HERE is rooted in the still life, with its iconic depictions of inanimate objects, finding 'beauty' in banality. The book presents a selection of one hundred submissions for the project and illustrates that, despite the current restrictions, a profound sense of community and creativity is still alive and pulsing in the private spaces of many. With contributions by the artists such as Monica Bonvicini, Tosh Basco fka Boychild, Katherine Bernhardt, Simon Denny, Marcel Dzama, Issy Wood, Shirin Neshat, Adam Pendleton, Laure Prouvost, Wolfgang Tillmans, Raphaela Vogel, Paul Mpagi Sepuya, among many more, alongside authors such as Chris Kraus, ballet dancer David Hallberg, neuroscientist Mendel Kaelen, auctioneer Simon de Pury and sexual anthropologist Betony Vernon. An essay by the art critic Jennifer Higgie relates personal encounters with iconic still lifes to sketch the genre's history from antiquity to the present. Each book includes a bookmark with a custom scent attached to it, developed by renowned olfactory artist and smell researcher Sissel Tolaas. The visual diary will also come to life through a selection of commissioned augmented reality videos and sound pieces using the DISTANZ App.