Wearing a Mask Helps

 This is the final Action Project of the term. This unit was all about unity and how it can be shown in art. Even though it was a short unit, I definitely learned a lot. We had two guest speakers who are a absurdist comedy group named A Waste of your Time and Money. They talked about what inspires them and why they use comedy to get their point across. For this Action Project, we were tasked with creating some sort of art project that addresses a social/political issue. I chose the topic of wearing a mask in public. To show my idea and thought process, I have made a comic sketch showing what could happen if you don't wear your mask when with others during this COVID-19 pandemic. I have also put together an artist statement to explain my thought process and show what my art piece is talking about in more detail.

I am a high school student who is in the midst of learning online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It has forced me to wear a mask in places I would normally go for fun, food, friends houses, etc. I have seen many people during this year who refuse to wear masks even though wearing a mask is something that is required in a lot of places. Personally I wear a mask to protect myself and others around me, but some people think that the Coronavirus is not that big of a deal. I feel that this is something that people should get out of their minds. COVID is a real thing and it is affecting millions of people now. I chose this topic because since it is something that a lot of people think isn't a big deal, then I feel the need to show them that in actuality, it is a really big deal. My artwork's message is "wear your mask" if that wasn't already clear. I feel like people should care a lot more about wearing a mask in public because it isn't something that you can just ignore. Masks are proven to have a 80% effectiveness rate compared to not wearing a mask at all. If we as a people want to stop the spread of COVID you should at least wear your mask when in public or within six feet of people that aren't family. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) has factual information that tells you about how wearing a mask helps stop the spread of the virus. For example, Thailand documented that, among more than 1,000 persons interviewed as part of contact tracing investigations, those who reported having always worn a mask during high-risk exposures experienced a greater than 70% reduced risk of acquiring infection compared with persons who did not wear masks under these circumstances. The reason I chose to communicate this message through a comic sketch is because I feel that this can reach more people who enjoy reading comics and looking at pictures instead of writing an essay talking about this same subject. For my sketch, I tried to communicate my message using irony in my comic. When the main character in my sketch starts off by not caring about a mask and saying he doesn't need to wear a mask, he eventually turns around and starts to tell people to wear masks because he was diagnosed with COVID so he now knows that masks are what he can use to protect himself and others. I feel like if I were to put my comic sketch in a social media outlet or maybe a newspaper it would reach a whole crowd of people just because there are many different age groups who use different platforms. For example, teens and younger people use social media for information or news whereas older people usually take in their information from news channels or newspapers. This is something that I feel cannot be stressed enough. Please, for the safety of me and you, wear your mask.

Works Cited:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/more/masking-science-sars-cov2.html: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Nov. 10, 2020.