Distancing

"Distancing" is an affective/creative response to the shutdown of my university campus due to the Covid-19 pandemic in spring 2020. As a campus resident and faculty member, the university is my home as well as my employing institution, meaning the phrases "shelter in place" and "work at home" are intertwined in complex ways. The photos in this essay were taken on a single day in April, at a time when students and faculty would typically be on campus preparing for final exams and other end-of-term activities. Instead, the campus is silent, classes and events cancelled, with buildings locked and offices vacant. The images reflect my viewpoint as a faculty member now on the outside of my institution looking in, seeing only darkened corridors and empty chairs. Through doors and windows, I see directives for physical distance and safety on flashing video screens, educating into the void. Refracting light and shadows cause a sense of disorientation, signalling the loss of long-established rhythms and patterns of academic life. Interrupted liminality and unbroken illumination are juxtaposed to emphasize our indeterminate futures. Untended landscapes shimmer upon the glass in reflected natural light, set against the polished interior surfaces that await our return.