Monday, March 09, 2020

Face Mask Instructions


In a post Corona world the searingly white clinical face mask is now normal apparel. Crude possibly and arguably ineffective it still represents a primary barrier and a psychological crutch for those who choose to wear one. The visual instructions (neatly distorted here for artistic reasons) seem to hail from rougher, more stylized times where comic strip Bruce Lee lookalikes were all the rage and were widely accepted. Mildly racist and mildly disturbing they are a throwback reminder that artwork like this (the IKEA man included) may mean well but will still be misunderstood. The other problem is of course that nobody ever reads the instructions or actually looks at the pictures anyway which is pretty much why we are where we are today.


The comic strip origins are strong in this one. The ghosts of Robert Crumb and various Manga styles are shining through the drippy chaos. If nothing else these products allow us to see where we've come from, the future remains a muddle of course.
The narrative, shown more clearly in the numbers, gives this the look of a narcotic user's set of instructions. It all ends well strangely enough.
Also, if you're self isolating this advice may help:

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