Five Boston Artists Making the Most of Instagram during Quarantine
COVID-19 has forced local artists to get even more creative when it comes to sharing their work. Here are five genre-spanning Instagram accounts fitting big ideas into small frames.
Photo courtesy of Majenta
Glam-punk drag queen Majenta with a J has spent the pandemic rounding up other colorful entertainers for her virtual “Full Spin” shows: Each fierce local wig-whipper takes a track on an iconic album (e.g., Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation), which is performed start to finish. So far, the series has raised more than $10,000 in “tips” for social justice organizations.
Considering its already-experimental approach, the small theater company Liars & Believers (LAB) was more prepared than most to pivot during COVID. The result: its intriguingly idiosyncratic “Pandemic Play” offerings of video and audio works—including a weekly serialized performance of Macbeth, filmed in 5- to 10-minute chunks by actors in isolation.
In recent months, Castle of Our Skins’ mission of championing equity in the classical world by advancing the work of Black composers and musicians has only been fortified via virtual engagements: fascinating chats with Black arts-world leaders, plus weekly “mini world premieres” of 30-second commissions for viola and piano that are like short, sweet little symphonies.
Eben Haines’s ingenious Instagram account shows off constantly changing exhibitions in what appears to be a real brick-and-mortar gallery. It’s not. Rather, Shelter in Place Gallery is actually a dollhouse-like re-creation of a studio built by Haines himself. The artist fills it with made-to-scale submissions of paintings, sculptures, and textiles that look—on your smartphone, anyway—like life-size installations.
Anyone else’s sleep schedule just a little bit off since the work-from-home era started? A suggestion: Unwind with “Bedtime Lullabies” from the Boston Lyric Opera, soothing short concerts that have been lulling us—and, maybe more important, our stir-crazy kids—into REM-ready relaxation.
