A piece of art is displayed in the lobby of the Engineering Building 110 of UNIST. This artwork, titled ‘Daily Life under Coronavirus’ depicts the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on our everyday lives.
The planning and production of this artwork have been organized by the Science Walden Center of UNIST and spearheaded by Director Jaeweon Cho (School of Urban and Environmental Engineering, UNIST) and Artist Jiwoo Jeon. This artwork is meant to illustrate the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on individuals and societies and how they cope with loss and grief during these unprecedented times.
Director Jaeweon Cho of Science Walden Center. l Image Credit: Hong Bum Ahn
“Health care professionals around the world continue to put their lives at risk every day, as the coronavirus spreads across the globe,” says Director Cho. “Through the creation of this artwork, we wanted to convey a message of comfort to those who are struggling amid the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The painting captures everyday heroes in the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes health workers on the COVID-19 frontline, people queuing up for face masks, and those who practice social distancing or use non-face-to-face services, such as online shopping and food delivery. It also includes a scene of economic crisis and elections. All elements in the painting have been decided after serious consideration.
Meanwhile, researchers at the Science Walden Center are pursuing a number of different approaches and research projects about COVID-19. In particular, Professor Bradly Tatar and his research team in the Division of General Studies at UNIST have been monitoring how social distancing and remote working will affect occupations, sectors, and regions. They believe that it will be much more difficult to bridge social distance after the crisis. As this will require a sustained effort over a long period, they plan on carrying out further research on this. In light of this, Science Walden Center will carry out relevant projects that combine art and science.
