I am spending quarantine with my girlfriend in our apartment in the Financial District, New York. New York City is being labeled the epicenter for this pandemic in the United States. Cases in the US are now the highest globally. Currently 100,500 cases have been reported in the US with 1,546 deaths. However, due to a lack of testing, we know the infection rate to be significantly higher. My partner and I both became sick with the coronavirus mid-March and our symptoms left a week later. We are grateful to return to full health and our hearts are with everyone who is being affected by this crisis. Today, Friday, March 27th, was the first time we have left the apartment since. The footage was taken midday on a Friday when the streets would normally be packed with hustling people. I filmed in five locations within four blocks of our apartment: Broadway St, Battery Park City, Oculus World Trade Center, the Federal Reserve, and our building rooftop. This movement is thinking about handwashing as both repetitive choreography and, along with isolation, our main defense against this deadly virus. This work was inspired by Yvonne Rainer, Hand Movie (1966).

–Jordan Rosenow

Hand Washing Movement NYC will be projected each evening after dark, visible directly from the street.

Jordan Rosenow is a visual and performance artist who focuses on the relationships of materials and movement through a queer, feminist lens using simple gestures such as touching, bending, leaning and standing. Her choreography is exploring the overlap between dance and sculpture by performing stillness and repetitive movements. Rosenow is from Minneapolis, MN and is currently based in Brooklyn, NY. Rosenow has exhibited at The White Page, Rochester Art Center, ACRE Projects, The Soap Factory, and Franconia Sculpture Park. Her performance work was recently presented at Lynden Sculpture Garden and the Walker Art Center. She is the editor of INREVIEW, a free, printed quarterly publication dedicated art criticism in the Twin Cities. For more information, please visit jordanrosenow.com.

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At Home Support

Roman Susan strives to support the work of the artists in our midst. With the broad social consequences of COVID-19, we are very grateful to everyone who supports one another through this exceptionally stressful time. Here are some of the ways Roman Susan is moving forward while preparing for the time we can gather together again and share artwork in person. As we cannot be close physically, let’s share this time and get closer in other ways.

This spring 1224 W Loyola Ave will feature new art installations and video projections while the space remains closed. These works are offered to our immediate neighbors, on view from the street. If you are not able to comfortably walk by our storefront from your residence, please enjoy these works from afar, through our website and on social media.

As always, we are doing our best to get resources into the hands of artists. Given the circumstances, Roman Susan wants to encourage and appeal to all of our fellow art organizers – commercial, corporate, collections-based, DIY, domestic, educational, inchoate, non-centered, unstructured, et al – please continue your support of artists while the doors have to close for a time. Though we cannot be open, we’re still working together. Thank you all for your support, please stay safe, and let’s take care of one another.

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Tags: Chicago, COVID-19, Hand Washing Movement NYC, Jordan Rosenow, Rogers Park, Roman Susan