issue1

This print is based off an image I took of my dad and brother during the height of the lockdown. I found it funny how they were stood in exactly the same way while listening to lockdown updates. It made me think about what lockdown has meant for different people, and how we are heavily affected by the people around us. The closure of schools and workplaces mean that we are spending more and more time with a select group of people. However, many people have also suffered badly from loneliness, with or without others surrounding them 24/7. I wanted to create the feeling of my brother and dad almost morphing into the furniture and background. I've noticed how much better I've become at tuning out my surroundings.

The new class of 'essential' workers

I wanted to create a narrative about the new class of essential workers that as arisen due to the Covid 19 pandemic. The one job i focused on is food delivery companies especially Derliveroo as most of us including myself order food with a just a few taps our phones. Outside local restaurants and fast food chains there is hardly any human interaction other than delivery people and the restaurant workers. These franchises made me realise how lazy we have all become for all of us to rely on technology for someone to have organised multiple franchises out of this simple action of travelling to collect food. Even in the fast food chain such as Mc donalds we order from a screen reducing the human nature and replacing with a robot.

Are these companies really essential for us? or are we too lazy to go out and collect food from a restaurant. Do we miss the small interactions with small talk, the weather, sights and smell? Especially with this pandemic, more of us are relying on these services.

IG: @alina_vuong

I wanted my piece to show the beauty of being black.
Black men especially have been stereotyped to be seen
as a 'danger' to society and the government built a system
that oppresses black people. The text I added "if you could
see us through my eyes" is a way of wishing society could
see black people they way I do. In the photography, painting
and video I did of my brother he is staring directing into the
camera. He is looking at you the audience as a way of
saying 'do you see me as a threat?'

Instagram - aantuwaday

Assimilationists:
These are a series of black and white photographs I had taken to explore the assimilation of black people which eventually leads to the loss of their genuine identity and them being unrecognisable. In one of the images, I used a slow shutter speed which created a blurred effect, in order to capture the dual nature of a black persons identity in order to assimilate with ease in a place where they are considered the minority, leading to them being unrecognisable. In the other images I blacked out the protagonists in my photographs eyes to show how they are no longer themselves and how they are now unrecognisable.

Instagram: @whoodeenie

Oil pastel monoprints

An animation made based on the idea of reflection. Specifically reflecting on self-isolation and not being able to go outside and enjoy the things we normally do and love.

This animation presents the idea of being trapped within the house physically, but also being trapped within our minds and our thoughts as lockdown was certainly a time of self reflection.

I used sounds of the wind whistling and incorporated it within the animation to create an eerie vibe and almost an atmosphere of horror and tension. There is also the sounds of cleaning a mirror which, although more literal, adds to the eerie vibe I was going for in my opinion.

The animation has a replay value which makes you want to keep playing and looping the video, which adds to the idea of isolation being repetitive and boring.

But self isolation was definitely a period of self-reflection and allowed me as well as, I'm sure many others, to learn more about themselves and their identity, and improve themselves as individuals.

By Alice Ross instagram: alices_art.account

Vaczine is a collection of ideas, thoughts and artworks by a group of young people gathered together as part of the Auto Italia Young Artist Programme 2020-21. The zine forms a kind of time capsule. It documents each contributor's response to the year just passed to create a record for future generations. 2020 has been a year of tumult, and themes encompassed in this compendium include Covid-19, social isolation, mental health, and the Black Lives Matter protests. Whilst there has been a lot to reflect on in 2020 and a lot of time to reflect, this zine encapsulates a spirit of hope, and a need for change from a fired up next generation of artists.

We hope you enjoy!

Poppy Moroney, Auto Italia Programme Manager October 2020