# data[].attributes.headline
Escaping the Pandemic Present: The Relationship Between Nostalgic Media Use, Escapism, and Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic

# data[].attributes.subject
Escaping the Pandemic Present: The Relationship Between Nostalgic Media Use, Escapism, and Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic

# data[].attributes.body
A COVID-19 INVESTIGATION

Subsequently, nostalgia-inducing media by fear of isolation (coping mechanism). Escape an emotionally unpleasant situation.

Can have functional and dysfunctional aspects.

*Measure used to record people's reasons for indulging in media between dysfunctional (I try to forget the difficult things in my life)

- and functional (e.g., ... I try to get to know myself better)

- of escapist media usage.

On nostalgic media. Reflecting on ones life and how they've changed - can lead to negative rumination.

Social isolation - nostalgic media, cope with the experience/ threat of loneliness

Media consumption, distraction from (current) situation, avoid negative states as apposed to meaningful (thus positive) experiences.

# data[].attributes.headline
Sunset skies and luscious lawns: Artist Stacy Leigh paints herself a dream reality

# data[].attributes.subject
Sunset skies and luscious lawns: Artist Stacy Leigh paints herself a dream reality

# data[].attributes.body
Artist encountered an "awful experience"

Immersed herself in a new reality to cope

“Creating quaint little free standing homes gave me a place to vicariously imagine a life where my comfort was not beholden to my neighbours' actions, or inaction,”

Her intention to escape the stress caused by people in her environment

The series (escape the b-roll) invents an uncomplicated town.

Colour is used to secure emotional connection within the pieces

Adapts expressionistic qualities

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Sunset skies and luscious lawns: Artist Stacy Leigh paints herself a dream reality

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
After finding her living situation wrecked with uncertainty, the New York-based artist manifested a more idyllic existence with her paintbrush.

# data[].attributes.headline
Full of “freaks, weirdos and monsters”, Margaux Bigou’s illustrations are bizarrely beautiful

# data[].attributes.subject
Full of “freaks, weirdos and monsters”, Margaux Bigou’s illustrations are bizarrely beautiful

# data[].attributes.body
Uses art to escape a heartbreak. Developing her use for bright colours fantastical creatures.

She has an interest in natural forms, the spiritual and the magical connotations that come from them

Focuses on her story of a caterpillar wanting to escape the city life.

The character was invented to address

Another example of an artist creating a world to escape an unsavoury situation

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Strangely enough, one of our favourite works by Margaux wasn't dreamed up in her South Pacific paradise, but in Europe. After high school, she won a full scholarship to study animation and illustration in Paris where she spent 10 happy years, selling her zines all over Europe, establishing herself in the micro-edition community, and going to parties in artists' squats. It all sounds pretty idyllic as far as most young illustrators are concerned. But after a decade, Margaux felt burnt out and yearned for her Island life back home. Once again, Margaux turned to her work for escapism.

She began writing a story which she later developed into a beautiful zine called Jérémiades. "The story is about an exhausted caterpillar wondering about the meaning of life in a sage field," explains Margaux. "I related to this caterpillar at the time. I wanted to escape the big city life, grumpy people, bad weather, and the sad and stinky metro."

Margaux got her wish after an artist's residency took her to the island of Tahiti (just a short flight to her home in New Caledonia), where she remains to this day. Here she made the finishing touches to Jérémiades, a hilarious and bizarre creation with many folding pages revealing hidden details. While the colours, creatures and magical occurrences are strange and otherworldly, the little caterpillar that wallows in its bad mood is totally relatable: "my voice is annoying...and I stink", it mopes.

The future looks bright for Margaux in Tahiti where she is planning to do more collaborative projects. She dreams of creating a place in the Pacific for artists and collectives to meet, giving physical reality to the kind the magical world she creates in her illustrations: a "utopian and inclusive self-acceptance space full of freaks, weirdos and monsters".

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Full of "freaks, weirdos and monsters", Margaux Bigou's illustrations are bizarrely beautiful

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Tahiti-based illustrator discusses how the myths and visual culture of the South Pacific inspire her work.

# data[].attributes.headline
Flore Chemin constructs “runny landscapes” decorated with “grotesque and unsettling beings

# data[].attributes.subject
Flore Chemin constructs “runny landscapes” decorated with “grotesque and unsettling beings

# data[].attributes.body
Views drawing as a medium to of escaping the world.

From a childlike perspective, Chemin's intention shapes an inner world more exciting than real life.

Colour and texture is a notable part of her work.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Flore Chemin constructs “runny landscapes” decorated with “grotesque and unsettling beings”

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The illustrator’s work blissfully flits between scenes, animals, objects and people.

# data[].attributes.body
Clear Argument: What is your stance?

• Context & Research: Historical and contemporary perspectives

• Evidence & Sources: Academic references, statistics, case studies

• Examples & Illustrations: Visuals that support your point

• Engaging Writing Style: Make it readable and compelling

Structure:

Introduction: State your topic and opinion clearly

• Background/Context: Why is this topic important?

• Your Argument: The main points, supported by research

• Visual Analysis: Images that illustrate your argument

• Conclusion: Summarise key points and future implications • References: Harvard style

# data[].attributes.body
3 months in-bed sick as a child. Developed a fixation on movie stars.

Attracted by the glamour of New York - where he changed his name to Andy Warhol (self-transformation)

Connects fantastical comic books and Hollywood as a depiction of real-life

"Observing thing's outside of the self"

Began to "design" an image of himself

Displaying the process, explains his repetitive pieces

Never met any of the celebrities he painted opposed to the nature of artists historically

# data[].attributes.headline
Moments of luxury: Hedonic escapism as a luxury experience

# data[].attributes.subject
Moments of luxury: Hedonic escapism as a luxury experience

# data[].attributes.body
Temporal and spatial escapism

Escapism -
"A brief moment of imaginary transportation to enable a escapism from everyday life."

"hedonism*, aesthetics, authenticity and exclusivity"

* Hedonism - A perspective on prioritising pleasure

A temporary experience in prospect of escaping everyday routines of modern life.

"...a temporal escape from daily responsibilities, an interlude from ordinary life."

A temporary escape, introducing special moments of self-enjoyment

The idea of self-transformation, to engage fully in a luxury experience (e.g. changing clothes, constructing an identity.)

Embodying an alternative identity for enjoyment

# data[].attributes.headline
Escapism, Control, and the Discernment of Desires

# data[].attributes.subject
Escapism, Control, and the Discernment of Desires

# data[].attributes.body
Escapism (in itself) can relate to narcissistic intention

Numbing self-absence

Masking our mutual dependency, unfulfillment

The experience of desire is caused by a depravity of power and control in ones life.

Desire is (naturally) used to evoke action towards fulfilment.

Escapism disregards (or seeks out to eliminate) desire, to delay a condition of need and want.

Controlling desire by recreating stimulating experiences as a short-term relief.

In seeking out (as thought of) self-mastery by avoidance.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Search by name, city, or institutional email

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How We Escape It: An Essay - JSTOR Daily

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Escape is an ancient word, escapism, a modern one, and the designation of a genre—“escape literature”—dates to the 1930s.