h. nazan ışık—
13 July 2020—
“We went through 111 days of hell. I saw it as climbing the mountain, (…) you didn’t even know how high the mountain was.
“What we went through, and what we did was historic, we did tame the beast (Coronavirus) , we did plateau that mountain and then we came down to the other side.
They will be talking about what we did for decades to come. It really was an historic moment.,” said Governor Cuomo during his 13 July briefing.
And he, as an artist, introduced his “New York Tough” Covid poster.
“So, I love history. I love poster art.”
The title of the poster reads:
“New York Tough”
Smart. United. Disciplined. Loving
Governor Andrew Cuomo introduced his “New York Tough” Covid poster (Photo: h. nazan ışık/NKENdiKEN)
“I use so many words. What if somebody said, okay no words. Paint me a picture that tells the story of what you’re trying to say. That’s poster art,” he said. “Poster art is something they did in the early 1900s, late 1800s, …. they got their whole message on one piece of paper. “ That’s poster art. And it’s helped me because it’s been like a relief valve, I could go and just use a different side of my brain.”
He had introduced two other posters before, and now he said, “ I did a new one for what we went through with COVID and I think the general shape is familiar to you. We went up the mountain, we curved the mountain, we came down the other side and these are little telltale signs that, to me, represent what was going on.”
Poster: Courtesy of Governor’s press office
Imagine, you are going to write a book about that “111 days of hell”. But you have only one page to tell everything about what New Yorkers went through. That is Mr. Cuomo’s poster.
So much to say about it, but I decided to let Governor Cuomo, the artist himself, talk about it.
“That big arrow that goes right up through it. That was the economic models, right? We needed 120,000 beds, we needed 140,000 beds, and those models shot straight up. We had to bend the curve despite those models. We needed 30,000 ventilators, that model said.
“We almost get to the top of the mountain—Economy Falls—get it? Economy Falls like Niagara Falls, but then the economy drops, the economy falls. And the economy comes running down.
“Timeline on the bottom starts on day one—little octopus is the tell, back to the William Jennings Brian poster.
“First comes on a cruise ship—the COVID virus, right? We start the daily briefings. Hand sanitizer, we have the winds of fear are blowing, everybody’s afraid.
“We have the plane bringing three million people from Europe and that’s how COVID came through the clouds of the federal government, CDC, et cetera.
“Testing, hospital surge, Javits Center, we’re pulling down the curve together, right? One hundred and eleven days of hell.
The New Rochelle hot spot, first hot spot cluster. Testing, tracing, Nasal swab, I’m driving once again – one of the few benefits of this , I get to drive myself now (it must be important for him !). Subway disinfection. We’ve turned the corner, mask up, social distancing.
“The sun is on the other side of the mountain. We just had to make it to the other side of the mountain. There’s the man in the moon (President Trump, saying) “It’s just the flu.”
“Phase one, we’re now coming down the other side.
Gov. Cuomo explained his poster (Photo: h. nazan ışık/NKENdiKEN)
“Boyfriend cliff is there. Tell the people the truth; they will do the right thing.
(This “boyfriend”, we have heard a lot about him from Gov. Cuomo at a coronavirus press conference before. But WHY is he dangling? Is ‘that figure’ representing something else, somebody else?)
“Who’s pulling down the curve? New Yorkers, healthcare workers, the essential workers, out of state volunteers! 30,000 people from out of state volunteered to come help us.
“I have my three daughters there. That’s Captain (his dog).
Mr. Cuomo’s three daughters here are presented at the same scale with the health care workers, 30,000 volunteers. On 19 June, his last daily Covid-19 briefing, when he was thanking everyone he said, “I want to thank my Cara, Mariah and Michaela for keeping me grounded and making me laugh at times that I thought I would cry.”
“Stock market reopens. We come down the other side. There’s the briefing table. Out of state ban. Follow the facts. That’s Arizona, Texas, Florida going up. Last little sign, “caution ahead.” We’ve climbed the mountain; we’re down the mountain. Be cautious. What we’re talking about today. Do compliance, watch people from other states, and we’re still in the sea of division, which I talked about in January, even worse. George Floyd murder, racial tension, protests. Even worse than it was.”
And at the top: we see the slogan “Love Wins,”
Gov. Cuomo very often says, “Love wins. Always!” And, at 111th day of Covid –19 briefings, his last daily Covid-19 briefing, he said,” Love does win. Love does conquer all.”
Gov. Cuomo always reminds us that he is going to tell the truth, the facts the way he knows it. There is so much to analyze on that very crowded ‘one piece of paper’. But I don’t see anything about nursing home problems, the deaths of 32,000 citizens, refrigerated trucks, used as morgue.
To like it or not, or in between, the decision is yours!
Photos © h. nazan ışık/NKENdiKEN)