Intervention 2

My poster design

The poster in the art building lecture hall door

     For my second intervention, I wanted to address the confusion lately around mask mandates. For so long, the mask was our only option to protect ourselves from COVID. Then, when we got vaccines, we thought it would be enough to protect us and things could go “back to normal”, but we hit the Omicron surge and the masks had to stay. Now, two years after the initial lockdown and closure of schools, we are back to mostly in-person classes and the lifting of the mask mandate in New Jersey. Governments and businesses are pushing for that pre-COVID work lifestyle to return, as those skyscrapers of offices have mostly remained empty. Activists have always seen how leaders tend to capitalist greed; in the Interventionists, The Yes Men mention that “No land on earth may be considered free if freedom means to engage in activities that endanger the well-being of corporate enterprise.” Critical Art Ensemble also touches upon this subject, mentioning the research and studies funded to see how human bodies react: “Our work has been quite focused on how surveillance will act as a means of body invasion-that every strand of DNA in our bodies, every molecule will be visualized, mapped and ordered to better serve capitalist interests.” 

Still, it was hard enough to get some people to use a mask in the first place, is now really the right time to say we don’t need them anymore? We know that viruses evolve, it’s the reason you need a new flu shot every year, so why is right now the time to phase out masks? There are so many confusing questions that just haven’t been answered yet, leaving many of us to wonder what the right action is. It’s understandable for people to be tired of wearing masks, wanting back their life before COVID became involved in every part of their lives. It’s also understandable for some to be paranoid that every breath they take could lead to getting sick (remember that having the vaccine does not entirely prevent you from catching COVID but does reduce infection rates and severity). It has taken a toll on all of us, physically but also emotionally, as the stress of how you could hurt others and how they can hurt you has only been highlighted in the past years.

It hasn’t been uncommon to see someone who needed to be told to put a mask on before entering a store in the past two years. In fact, its been popular on social media to see these people give nonsense reasoning as to why they can’t wear a mask, like “My doctor says I don’t have to because I have a breathing condition,” like catching COVID, a respiratory virus, would be safer for them than wearing the mask. While you should still just put on a mask if you’re asked, it's now more likely people will honestly just forget they need one inside or forget to carry one. The mandate means not all schools must require masks, but they are entitled to ask that of their students if they choose. These messages might seem a little back and forth, but it is safer to err on the side of caution and do some research to keep yourself and others safe.