Covid Commissions:

Joe Manners & Bella Jackson

Joe and Bella’s commission initiated with a period of research into individual experiences of the UK lockdown period from March to July 2020. A series of questions were formulated to gain a broad picture of emotional, practical and political responses to the pandemic. Some interviews were undertaken in socially distanced garden meetings and others by email. Written, verbal and pictorial responses were collated via a shared digital platform. Creative exploration of the research differed between the two artists. Bella accessed the research material by making lists of dreams, objects and feelings that interested her and used themes from photographs and sketches that interviewees had supplied in response to questions relating to hopes and fears, dreams and key moments of realisation. Bella selected from these lists at random, drawing on Surrealist principles. Joe used illustration as a way in, visualising ideas and experiences through sketching which were then refined into storyboarding thumbnails, stills and animations. Both artists found an anchor in one personal testimony that described feelings of anxiety and abruptness when the reality of restrictions had registered for the first time. The resulting work, Covid Cinema, is a fascinating piece of work that captures the trauma, mundanity and introspection central to life in lockdown. The animation fuses analogue and digital processes and aptly explores the human mind through a medley of imagery that lilts between the representational and the abstract. The result is a striking articulation of our collective human experience. 

How did you come to work together/why did you want to work together on this commission?

We’ve been friends and creative peers for over a decade and developed alongside each other during our degrees. As our values and experiences align, we explore similar topics in response to cultural and systemic developments in society. Collaboration stimulates a period of growth by combining our very different creative disciplines. 

Give a brief description of what you’re intending to do in relation to the brief

Our intention is to explore innovative and compelling ways of sharing the experiences people have had during the pandemic and the UK lockdown. Elements derived from the research will be used to develop works which will utilise still and moving image techniques; integrating avant-garde methods such as nonrepresentational visual storytelling.This allows us to not only combine our different practices but to build on other working strategies to create something meaningful. 

Why does this enable a period of experimentation for your individual or collective practice?

Joe’s interest in editorial publication requires him to be informed on current affairs, however this is information we are exposed to - our project instead emphasises a more personal investigation into specific topics. Bella being a creative multipotentialite means her interests lie in a variety of disciplines with focuses on research. We’re both in similar stages of our professional careers and at a time of mutual uncertainty this is an opportunity to use our time and practices as a catalyst for reflection, adaptation and innovation.  

Website: joemanners.com Instagram: @bellzubub @joelmanners