NEW YORK CITY Classrooms across the city may be under an automatic coronavirus shutdown, but they'll return with 35,000 new students.

That's the number of students who opted into blended learning during a two-week enrollment period, according to city Department of Education data.

The city initially gave parents a rolling chance to opt in, but eventually set a hard deadline to help teachers better schedule classes. The definite in-person enrollment numbers which tally at about 300,000 citywide will give educators a chance to roll out classes in buildings up to five days a week, officials said.

"We know that nothing can replace in-person instruction and blended learning families deserve as much time in the classroom inside their schools as possible," said Katie O'Hanlon, a DOE spokesperson, in a statement. "We will be working with schools to increase the number of days blended learning students are in buildings, and we're excited for these students to join their peers when we reopen."

The new blended learning enrollment numbers follow the closure Thursday of public school buildings citywide.

The shutdown was triggered once the city's average coronavirus positivity rate hit 3 percent.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said officials are crafting a reopening plan in the next few days and hope to get students back to classrooms soon after Thanksgiving.

See the rest here:
35K NYC Students Opt For In-Person Classes, Whenever They Return - Patch.com

Windows 10 October 2020 Update, which is only a service pack fashion improve, was launched in October. This replace is a minor launch, however it comes with two new options theme-aware Start Menu and new Alt-Tab expertise.

As you could know already, Alt+Tab is a well-liked multitasking keyboard shortcut that has been in Windows since Windows 2.0 and it was final up to date in model 20H2 with a brand new function.

Windows 10 20H2 modifies the best way Alt-Tabbing works in relation to Microsoft Edge by permitting browser tabs to look as a separate app window within the Alt-Tab display screen.

Alt+Tab enables you to swap between open home windows on Windows 10 and you may also navigate between apps utilizing the arrow keys. With Windows 10 October 2020 Update, Microsoft stated it has improved the multitasking expertise by together with Microsoft Edge tabs within the Alt-Tab interface.

Microsoft believes that commonplace Alt+Tab is fairly fundamental and Edge tabs inclusion may help you navigate by your operating duties extra simply.

Unfortunately, Alt+Tab interface is now damaged for some customers after they utilized the Windows 10 October 2020 Update. According to reviews and our personal testing, a bug within the replace may lead to your Alt+Tab order altering unexpectedly and itll open the mistaken window if you attempt to swap between apps.

For instance, when you have three app home windows open (A, B, C) and also youre making an attempt to change to the primary window A, Alt-Tab interface will as a substitute give attention to the window after the meant one.When this occurs, it may be noticed that the choice on the Alt + Tab menu just isnt on the entry A, appropriately, however on the second entry B.

Several customers confirmed the difficulty within the Feedback Hub and it seems like Microsoft is conscious of the reviews.

Alt-Tab has started acting very inconsistent. For example, if I am quickly switching between windows A and B using Alt-Tab, it will be fine 9 out of 10 times. Then on the 10th time Im using Alt-Tab, it will randomly switch to window C which I havent opened in a while, one person noted within the Feedback Hub.

In one Feedback Hub publish, Microsoft stated that theyre investigating the reviews they usuallyve already mounted the difficulty in preview builds.

Its seemingly that Microsoft will repair the Alt-Tab issues in a future replace to Windows 10 October 2020 Update, however it could not arrive this 12 months because the tech big plans to launch fewer updates till January.

Follow this link:
Microsoft admits Windows 10 multitasking function damaged by replace - Enter21st

The Historic District Commission met on Nov. 17, with another meeting set for Nov. 19, to clear an agenda that dates back six months.

On Nov. 17, the HDC denied in a 4-3 vote the petition of Kevin Rinaldi-Young, 5 Russo Court, to elevate his house off the foundation and onto a new foundation to provide a garage at grade and a variety of changes to the structure.

Several neighborhood residents opposed the house being elevated above the rooflines of other historic houses along the street. However, there were several letters of support, including resident Erin Mulry, who spoke of the applicants regard for historic districts in the plan.

The HDC approved the following petitions:

. George Oliver, 29 Greenough Place, to demolish a garage and rebuild with new foundation walls and footings, to remove an exterior stairway to the third floor, a shed dormer and a kitchen addition, and to repair and replace rotted wood trim where necessary;

. Jeffrey Lipshires, 45 Kay St., to make various changes to the secondary structure;

. Elijah Duckworth-Schachter, 6 Greenough Place, to add a firstfloor deck;

. Earl and Nancy Powell, 1 Highland Place, to construct a two-story accessory structure;

. Zalo One LLC, 16 Barney St., to replace the siding, roof and chimney, to remove rear decks, to repair the stone foundation and to reconfigure the rear elevation;

. John and Jeanie Shufelt, 1 Cliff Ave., to construct an exterior elevator shaft and remove an historic window;

. Helen Hadley Johnstone, 13 Mount Vernon St., to replace wooden stairs and a handrail with stone stairs and an iron handrail;

. William and Kathleen S. Wallace, 86 Beacon Hill Road, to extend a dormer east to accommodate an elevator;

. Deborah Cloaniger, 11 Harrison Ave., to install a dryer vent in an exterior masonry wall;

. Eoin Howlett, 16 Poplar St., to replace aluminum windows with double hung insert windows, to restore two original wood windows on the front elevation, and other repairs.

A dozen petitions were continued to Nov. 19 and to December.

Read more from the original source:
HDC Holds Two Meetings to Hear Petitions - Newport This Week

Microsoft is creating a new security chip thats designed to protect future Windows PCs. Microsoft Pluton is a security processor that is built directly into future CPUs and will replace the existing Trusted Platform Module (TPM), a chip thats currently used to secure hardware and cryptographic keys. Pluton is based on the same security technologies used to protect Xbox consoles, and Microsoft is working with Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm to combine it into future CPUs.

This new chip is designed to block new and emerging attack vectors that are being used to compromise PCs, including CPU security flaws like Spectre and Meltdown. Intel revealed back in 2018 that it was redesigning its processors to protect against future attacks, and Pluton is an even bigger step in securing CPUs and Windows PCs in general.

Existing TPMs are separated from CPUs, and attackers have also been developing methods to steal the data and information that flows between a TPM and CPU when they have physical access to a device. Just like you cant easily hack into an Xbox One to run pirated games, the hope is that it will be a lot more difficult to physically hack into a Windows PC in the future by integrating Pluton into the CPU.

We shipped the Xbox which has this physical attack protection, so people cant just hack it for games etc, explains David Weston, director of enterprise and OS security at Microsoft. We learned principles of effective engineering strategies from that, and so were taking those learnings and partnering with Intel to build something for the PC that will stand up to that emerging attack vector.

A number of firms sell kits, or 0-day vulnerabilities, that let attackers gain access to machines and literally crack open PCs to steal critical data that can unlock other ways to get into company systems or access personal information. Our dream for the future is thats just not possible on the PC platform, says Weston.

Pluton is essentially the evolution of the TPM, baked directly into a CPU. This is a better, stronger, faster, more consistent TPM, explains Weston. We provide the same APIs as TPM today, so the idea is that anything that can use a TPM could use this. That means features like BitLocker encryption or Windows Hello authentication will transition over to using Pluton in the future.

Microsofts work with Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm also means that Pluton will be updated from the cloud. Updates will be issued monthly on the same Patch Tuesday that regular Windows fixes arrive. The hope is that this should improve system firmware updates for both consumers and businesses that run Windows PCs.

Its not clear when PCs with Pluton chips will start shipping, but Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm are all committing to build this functionality into their future CPUs. Youll still be able to build custom PCs with Pluton chips embedded inside, and there should even be support for Linux in the future, too.

This is a future thing were going to build in, says Mike Nordquist, director of strategic planning and architecture at Intel. The idea is that you dont have to look for a motherboard with a TPM chip... so you just get it. Nordquist says Intel also supports choice for operating systems, and that it doesnt want to start doing different things for a bunch of different OS vendors. There are no firm details on Linux support just yet, but Microsoft already uses Linux with Pluton in its Azure Sphere devices, so its likely to be available whenever these chips ship.

New chips and security do mean new fears about DRM, and the fact that processors will now call back to Microsofts cloud infrastructure for updates. This is about security, its not about DRM, explains Weston. The reality is well create an API where people can leverage it, its definitely possible for folks to use that for protection of content, but this is really about mainstream security and protecting identify and encryption keys.

Microsoft, Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm all clearly believe that processors that are continually updated with security built into them is the future for Windows PCs. Spectre and Meltdown were a wake up call for the entire industry, and Pluton is a significant response to the complex security threats that modern PCs now face.

Read this article:
Microsoft Pluton is a new processor with Xbox-like security for Windows PCs - The Verge

"What's one thing that most everyone is most thankful for? It's their family," Colleen O'Connell said.Pictures through windows will be the memories O'Connell and her sisters make with their dad, Danny, this Thanksgiving."They will have two assistants with my dad on the other side of the window. We'll do the wave thing," O'Connell said.Next week, O'Connell and her son will drive from their Northern Kentucky home to Iowa. They'll enjoy a holiday meal with her two sisters. But everyone's heart will be heavy, knowing Danny O'Connell will spend his 87th Thanksgiving battling dementia and diabetes in a room by himself in a Cedar Rapids nursing home."You can't celebrate what could very well potentially be the last Thanksgiving that he will be here on earth," O'Connell said."It really is a difficult time," Steve Slayton said.Slayton is executive director of The Kenwood by Senior Star, a retirement community in Madisonville. He plans to do all he can to help families stay connected during fall's biggest holiday."Zoom calls, FaceTime. We have, probably, 15 iPads at the community that my staff is really well-versed in using," Slayton said. "They'll go up to the resident's apartment and, you know, Zoom in with the family when they're doing dinner or something like that so they can feel engaged."Slayton knows technology can't replace human interaction, but he said the fear of spreading the coronavirus requires caution.That's something O'Connell, who WLWT investigator Todd Dykes talked to when her dad survived a case of COVID-19 in April, has come to appreciate, just as she's learned to appreciate senior care workers more than ever."Every year my sisters and I have given the people that are closest to my father a Christmas gift," she said. "This year we're giving them a Thanksgiving gift because we are thankful for them."Families who want to connect with loved ones living in nursing homes need to start crafting a plan now, because the last thing senior care facilities need is for people to simply show up on Thanksgiving Day without knowing the latest COVID-19 protocols.Also, people who have loved ones in a nursing home can stay connected by sending a card. Slayton said he watches the faces of residents light up when they get mail. Plus, he said a card makes a great keepsake.

"What's one thing that most everyone is most thankful for? It's their family," Colleen O'Connell said.

Pictures through windows will be the memories O'Connell and her sisters make with their dad, Danny, this Thanksgiving.

"They will have two assistants with my dad on the other side of the window. We'll do the wave thing," O'Connell said.

Next week, O'Connell and her son will drive from their Northern Kentucky home to Iowa. They'll enjoy a holiday meal with her two sisters. But everyone's heart will be heavy, knowing Danny O'Connell will spend his 87th Thanksgiving battling dementia and diabetes in a room by himself in a Cedar Rapids nursing home.

"You can't celebrate what could very well potentially be the last Thanksgiving that he will be here on earth," O'Connell said.

"It really is a difficult time," Steve Slayton said.

Slayton is executive director of The Kenwood by Senior Star, a retirement community in Madisonville. He plans to do all he can to help families stay connected during fall's biggest holiday.

"Zoom calls, FaceTime. We have, probably, 15 iPads at the community that my staff is really well-versed in using," Slayton said. "They'll go up to the resident's apartment and, you know, Zoom in with the family when they're doing dinner or something like that so they can feel engaged."

Slayton knows technology can't replace human interaction, but he said the fear of spreading the coronavirus requires caution.

That's something O'Connell, who WLWT investigator Todd Dykes talked to when her dad survived a case of COVID-19 in April, has come to appreciate, just as she's learned to appreciate senior care workers more than ever.

"Every year my sisters and I have given the people that are closest to my father a Christmas gift," she said. "This year we're giving them a Thanksgiving gift because we are thankful for them."

Families who want to connect with loved ones living in nursing homes need to start crafting a plan now, because the last thing senior care facilities need is for people to simply show up on Thanksgiving Day without knowing the latest COVID-19 protocols.

Also, people who have loved ones in a nursing home can stay connected by sending a card. Slayton said he watches the faces of residents light up when they get mail. Plus, he said a card makes a great keepsake.

Read more:
Cincinnati families worry about loved ones in nursing homes during Thanksgiving holiday - WLWT Cincinnati

Liverpool defender Joe Gomez has vowed to come back stronger than ever after being ruled out for a significant chunk of the season.

Gomez was forced to undergo knee surgery after rupturing his patella tendon during England training earlier this week.

Getty Images - Getty

With Virgil van Dijk also out for months with a knee problem, the Reds were counting on Gomez and his injury could not have come at a worse time.

However, it is not the first time the 23-year-old has suffered a serious setback, and Gomez insists he knows what it takes to come back better.

The road to recovery has already begun, Gomez wrote onTwitter. Ive been here before, I know what it takes and Ill be back better and stronger than ever.

Im obviously gutted, but this is a part of Gods plan and I believe everything happens for a reason.

Id like to thank everyone for their well wishes and messages of support.

Im focussed on my recovery and supporting my team mates in every way I can. See you soon.

Meanwhile, Liverpool legend Mark Lawrenson told talkSPORT he expects the Reds to sign a new centre-back in the January transfer window.

Joe is a very, very important player, he told talkSPORT 2. Obviously with Virgil van Dijk out, it would be Joe Gomez and another.

AFP or Licensors

The thing with Joe Gomez is hes had his operation straight away and theyre already saying hell miss most of the season, but that sounds to me really that he might just make it back towards the end.

And Matip is a decent player but hes like a willow tree; he occasionally gets blown over and hes not fit for two or three weeks, so hes another worry.

Some of the younger players have come in and theyve done absolutely fine, but I think youre looking at Matip, if fit, with the likes of Fabinho or maybe even Henderson [playing in defence] at some stage.

But I would think it will force the managers hand in the January transfer window.

Hes going to have to go out and buy somebody, and it wont be a difficult conversation with the owners. Theyll realise whats going on; the great thing about them is theyve got this sporting franchise in America and they know people lose form and get injured, so its case of who hes going to bring in.

Were all going to play the game now going into January who are Liverpool going to sign?

Read more from the original source:
Liverpool defender Joe Gomez breaks silence on knee injury as Reds urged to buy replacement in January - talkSPORT.com

Macys and ournew reality

To me, the recent boarding up of Macys 34th Street, in anticipation of possible post-election violence, symbolizes our countrys new reality.

As a young Jewish girl, I longed for a Christmas tree. No amount of cajoling or arguing could persuade my parents to allow me to have one. But I vividly remember being entranced by the famous Christmas-themed windows at Macys, and what it meant to me. Viewing those windows were part of my familys annual ritual of visiting the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center and attending the annual Christmas show at Radio City Music Hall.

Those glorious windows were special to me; there were simply so many of them, and they ignited the imagination (or at least my imagination). They literally sparkled, beckoning to all sightseers, no matter what their religion. And for a brief moment, I could fully participate in a holiday that I could only otherwise observe as an outsider.

Those sweet days are long gone but were replaced, years later, with another ritual: cutting through that same Macys on my way to and from Penn Station, as I commuted to my office, one block away from the store. It provided brief shelter and respite from rain and snow, chilling cold and sweltering heat. It was always bustling and welcoming. Tourists, speaking many languages and bearing large shopping bags, were a large presence. It gave the store a rather festive, international air. I liked that.

A high point of spring, for me, was always the Macys flower show, with its windows bedecked with multicolored blossoms. In the weeks before the flower show officially opened, despite the harsh March winds, I knew that spring was coming. I followed the progress as the windows and street floor began to be decorated with elaborate floral arrangements.

Macys also taught me a lesson about human nature.

During those dark days after 9/11, immediately after New York opened up again, I took one of the first DeCamp express buses out of Montclair. It was about half full. Usually, passengers were buried in their newspapers and electrical devices. But in that bus, at that time, we all had the need to talk and connect. We spoke of shock, confusion and fear. None of us felt comfortable going into Manhattan, but we each for our own reasons felt we had no choice. My story was that Im a psychotherapist; I had patients. End of story.

When I arrived in the city, I did not cut through Macys as I usually did. I was sure it would be the next target. While the Empire State building, on the other end of the block where my office was located, had become a virtual fortress, there was no visible security presence at any of the stores entrances.

Suddenly those interesting tourists with large shopping bags now seemed potentially menacing. And the landmark status of the building seemed downright dangerous.

But then, later that afternoon, I got a very noticeable run in my stockings (in those days I cared about such things). Feeling I had no choice, I nervously dashed into Macys for a replacement. It was virtually empty, but I still vividly remember all the salespeople standing behind counters in an empty store, determinedly smiling.

I hurriedly grabbed a pair of stockings and, as I checked out, I asked the salesperson if she was frightened being there. Of course she said yes, then hurriedly added, But this is my job. To me, those sales clerks at Macys symbolized the quiet courage and determination of New Yorkers during that terrible time a time that seemed to bring out the best in so many of us.

Now, suddenly, in a very different time, the Macys that had always been so welcoming to so many of us was boarded up. Has there ever been an American election thats brought forth such fear?

Happily, at this point in time, instead of violence there is dancing in the streets and the joyous honking of car horns. Soon, the boards covering Macys windows will undoubtedly be removed.

Will that be a harbinger of renewed hope for our divided country?

Janice Cohn

Montclair

Montclair Local is providing true public service through its in-depth reporting on Lackawanna. The issues are significant and many, and should concern all citizens. To clarify one crucial point: The members of A Better Lackawanna LLC should not be painted with one brush as being preservationists our 200+ members joined for any number of reasons, which align with the points in our lawsuit.

In one survey we did of members motivations, 80 percent said they were greatly concerned about the 400-car parking shortage and the traffic impact at what is perhaps the busiest intersection in all of Montclair. Only 20 percent said historic preservation was important to them.

At its heart, our appeal is about good government and the publics protected right to question and comment. All residents should be outraged at the taking of the public easement on Grove Street, without disclosure or input by the public. This project needs to return to the drawing board a full remand, in legalese a drawing board based on the survey map that was missing throughout the original approval process.

Priscilla Eshelman

A Better Lackawanna

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Letters to the editor: Nov. 12 - Montclair Local

A mum was left distraught after her car windows were smashed and her purse stolen overnight.

Eleanor Walters, 21, had left her flat in Newport city centre with her one-year-old daughter when she noticed the passenger window of her Citroen C3 had been smashed and her purse taken.

Eleanor said: "My daughter and I left the flat at around 8.45am in the rain to find the window smashed, the car soaked and her car seat destroyed.

"The damage to the car itself is complete loss of the passenger window and, due to the type of seats, the glass is hard to shift and will either need replacing or professional cleaning."

Eleanor said: "It's become very stressful and draining. Multiple phone calls to cancel and re-start cards and accounts moved, and when the new bank account is sorted it's a matter of moving all bills over to new accounts which proves very difficult for someone like me, who struggles with phone calls and socialising with unknown people."

Eleanor said she and her family are now considering moving home as they do not feel safe in the area.

"The reason car insurance is so high here is because of people doing stuff like this and how common it is.

"I could have claimed on my insurance, making me lose my no claims bonus and possibly making the insurance for next year just too much to justify paying, or put ourselves out of pocket now to get it fixed," she said.

"For someone like myself with severe mental health problems my car is my safety blanket. Knowing I can get away or find my way to someone for help if I need it."

Eleanor said: "The car seat will need replacing and that is not cheap either. I now also have to replace the purse and all of the contents. The beautiful picture of my baby in the purse window will be wasting away somewhere. It hurts that it's had no effect to them but a huge one for me and my family."

A spokesperson for Gwent Police said: "We were called at approximately 9.15am on November 18, reporting that a Citreon C3 parked on Rodney Road in Newport had been broken into sometime between midnight and 9am.

"Cash, bank and store cards were stolen. Anyone with information is asked to call 101 quoting 2000419646."

View post:
Car covered in glass after windows smashed overnight in Newport - Wales Online

Topline

President Donald Trump insisted Thursday night during the final presidential debate that Democratic opponent Joe Biden is pining to knock down buildings and shrink their windows, a bizarre and inaccurate riff on Bidens climate plan that has quickly turned into one of Trumps go-to attack lines.

President Donald Trump answers a question during the second and final presidential debate at Belmont ... [+] University on October 22, 2020 in Nashville, Tennessee.

In an exchange on climate policy, Trump claimed Bidens platform involves forcing buildings to replace their existing windows with smaller ones, or ideally no windows at all, in the name of energy efficiency.

Trump has repeated this allegation for months, insisting Bidens plan to rapidly reduce carbon emissions would require buildings to eliminate their windows.

Bidens platform does not mention windows anywhere, nor does the Green New Deal, a climate proposal endorsed by many Democrats but not Biden.

Some researchers have suggested old buildings replace their windows with more energy efficient ones, but no climate activists seem to support eliminating them altogether.

They want to take buildings down because they want to make bigger windows into smaller windows, Trump said Thursday night. As far as theyre concerned, if you had no window, it would be a lovely thing.

Trump has frequently attempted to tie Biden to the Green New Deal, a wide-ranging proposal involving renewable energy projects, infrastructure upgrades and economic stimulus. In its current form, the Green New Deal is a nonbinding statement rather than a concrete policy, so its difficult to assess its fiscal or economic impact, but Bidens plan tends to be far narrower than most of the ideas floated by Green New Deal supporters. Either way, windows are probably safe from Biden and congressional Democrats wrath.

Trump also claimed Bidens climate plan would cost $100 trillion. This figure appears to be lifted from a conservative think tanks estimate for the cost of the Green New Deal, though supporters of the Green New Deal have disputed that figure. Biden says his plan would cost far less.

Trump Keeps Talking About Tiny Windows, And No One Knows What He Means (Curbed)

Trump no windows comment draws fire (EnergyNow)

See the rest here:
Why Does Trump Think Biden Wants To Shrink Everybodys Windows? - Forbes

This article is part of our latest Fine Arts & Exhibits special report, which focuses on how art endures and inspires, even in the darkest of times.

For centuries, artists and poets have escaped the world of people by choice, opting out to find clarity or to see from a different perspective. The earliest drawings known to have been made by humans have been found in the deep, dark recesses of caves, spaces since supplanted by the modern studio.

But many artists have very social sides to their lives and practices as well exhibiting work, lecturing, attending openings that have largely stopped as they, and everyone else, have been forced into involuntary isolation by the pandemic.

For some, along with that separation has come a kind of acceptance of a new set of limits, among them the inability to travel freely and a change in how they interact with people, places and objects.

My work is all about context, about place, the artist Mark Dion said recently. I go someplace, and I listen to the site and I start to research its ecological history, its architecture, its material culture, its social history. All of those elements tell me what to do.

Mr. Dion, who is based in Copake, N.Y., is known for his cabinet-of-curiosity type installations that often pull from institutional collections as well as junk shops high and low conspiring to make arresting amalgams of human detritus.

But I am an artist, which means Im inherently resilient, he said. Artists are nothing if not adaptable, and in the end, I dont necessarily need airplanes and research and a different location and a budget; all I need is a pencil and paper.

When Mr. Dions show at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth shut down two months early, he realized the importance of his works being represented in other media. The book and film associated with the show became critical if only because the public could not experience his work in person. (The exhibition was extended for a few weeks, when the museum reopened.)

During the virus, many artists have been returning to the basics, working alone without assistants, slowing down and taking a closer look at their immediate surroundings, spending more time in nature. But as they have turned inward, there has also been a renaissance of communication, of sharing ideas through digital media.

On March 17, Phong Bui, an artist and publisher, and his team at the publication he co-founded, The Brooklyn Rail, started a series of daily lunchtime conversations, called the New Social Environment, through Zoom.

Social Environment was a direct counter to social distancing, Mr. Bui told me. The conversations there have been more than 150 so far, archived online are a nod to the artist Joseph Beuyss concept of Social Sculpture, where artmaking is not considered to be so precious, but is democratized, a part of our lives.

As the daily conversations progressed bringing together both well-known and emerging artists, musicians, poets, curators, and museum directors the staff and participants noticed a magic to this new medium, with everyone in their individual Zoom box, a slice of their homes or studios visible behind them.

I didnt expect people to feel so incredibly compassionate, sympathetic and honest, Mr. Bui said. What we learned is that the need to connect to other human beings was amplified.

Zoom and other technologies existed before the virus, but we werent being forced to use them. For Joseph Grigely, who is deaf, this shift has been a boon.

Pre-Covid, people might pick up the phone, email or meet in person, Mr. Grigely told me via Zoom, using the chat feature to type, and with his wife, the artist Amy Vogel, signing for him. Post-Covid, were meeting all over the globe via Zoom, we are seeing and hearing people, we are seeing and having conversations that are embodied the face, the facial expressions.

Mr. Grigely, an artist and a professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, has been deaf since he was 10, shocked into a kind of involuntary isolation brought on by an accident. He deals with such a situation, like the coronavirus, through what he calls intercoming, rather than overcoming.

At the moment you cant really beat the virus, you have to work with the circumstances that we have, he said.

Mr. Grigelys work is largely about communication, about living as a deaf person in the world of the hearing. He has held many conversations by passing notes back and forth with others, and he displays these notes as large wall installations. These are ordinary conversations you would not ever bother to document or display, he said, but there is a kind of revelation about their everyday ordinariness that is captivating when you see them together.

I see in Covid a lot of people are doing something like that; they are looking at whats on their desks, whats on their bookshelves. This kind of slow-life process, its something thats between the still life and life. Were all in that slow mode now, it seems.

At the very beginning of lockdown, Mr. Grigely encouraged his students to embrace new technologies, seeing these media as a way to stay optimistic through a challenging time. The way the students are disseminating work on Instagram or exhibitions that are posted online, to me it seems to supplement a body of work, not replace it. They create multiple entry points to it; you look into it through these different angles.

At the same time, he noted, they have come at the expense of how many lives? Its very painful to look at whats happening in that context.

As an artist, I, too, know the isolation of the virus. An exhibition at the Yale University Art Gallery that I worked on for over two years closed in mid-March, three weeks after it began. It reopened last month, and then was temporarily closed again, with plans to reopen and continue its run through February.

Isolation for me, in my studio in Easton, Conn., has above all emphasized a heightened relationship to nature, and the continued relevance of the elemental, primitive materials of my craft wood-handled brushes with animal hair bristles, pigments ground from minerals, charcoal, graphite. I marvel at how efficiently, even in the face of new technologies, these ancient tools still enable us to manifest thoughts, to get something out of our heads and onto a surface.

My own paintings, drawings, sculptures and installations have always been fundamentally about the interface of the real and the imagined, the actual and the imitation, and the interconnectedness between our thoughts and ourselves.

Isolation has made me look more closely at the nature of representation, a theme of the Yale show, and a theme of many of the conversations I had with artists: why humans bothered to depict things in nature, and how once we were able to do so, these representations helped us survive.

We cannot lament the virtual world; that would not serve us. As Mr. Grigely noted, these new forms of representation dont detract from the actual, but augment it. Its possible that when the first human drew a bison on a cave wall, someone was there thinking: Thats a neat bit of artifice, but I much prefer the real thing.

But the representation gave us the beginning of a secondary nature, one that complements the real one, and helps us navigate it, like a map. It also helped expand our minds in an imaginary world.

As we fully return to seeing art in person, I hope that our experiences in isolation will allow us to pay more attention to what is around us when we look up from our screens.

See the original post:
Artists in Isolation Make a New Window on the World - The New York Times