Aesthetic responses to the COVID-19 pandemic: The corona performance No Problama

Abstract

This article highlights the artistic project No Problama, which was created during the COVID-19 crisis. The discussion takes its point of departure in revisiting the project, aiming to discover new meanings, expand knowledge about art as response to crises and more profound understanding of connecting art and society when explored two years after completion. The investigation is inspired by international research on the function of art during the COVID-19 pandemic. The article includes references to art and music projects published in 2020 as creative, aesthetic responses, which reflected how people worldwide used artistic expressions to release fear and anxiety during the first months of the lockdown. The No Problama project was developed from August 2020 to May 2021 as a primary school and university collaboration in a small city close to the University of Agder in Kristiansand, Norway. The project exemplifies what was later referred to as "corona-music" or "corona-art". It is discussed as an aesthetic response to the COVID-19 pandemic using approaches from music aesthetics, music education and research in the arts. A retrospective exploration made it evident that the No Problama artistic expressions became representations of COVID-19-pandemic aesthetics. Thus, the project illustrates one path of intervention between art and crisis in a specific context where each component was developed and tailored to a situation affected by strict national health regulations.