Covid-19 - There has been much worst

Victory Parade in Stockton, California, ca. 1918. Van Covert Martin. Holt-Atherton Special Collections (Western Americana), University of the Pacific Library

 

Covid-19 certainly is a dangerous disease. Status in January 7th 2022, 301 million cases and 5,49 million deaths so far. Modern medicine has adapt quickly to fight against this pandemic, vaccinations against it were developed in record time, so far portion of the fully vaccinated is 49,8% of the world population, with 9,21 billion shots given. Yet in kills people in fast pace, United States leading the statistics, Brazil and India following.

Now imagine a disease much worst with no vaccines available, killing the young and the able, and to make things much worst, at the time of brutal world war.

Just like many influenza (H1N1-virus) epidemics, it was an aviary based disease. There is three possible sources where it came from, first being from the Unites States Army-base at Camp Funston in Kansas at March 1918, rapidly spreading along with military preparing to war. Second possible source might have been the Chinese workers, Chinese Labour Corps (CLC) that had been ported to France by the British to do physical support work of the trench warfare. These first two sources include chickens, Camp Funston raised its own chickens among other animals, Chinese brought their own with them. Third source might have been carrier pigeons that was widely used to carry information, however that is much disputed.

Anyhow it started at spring of 1918, spreading rapidly through forces, reaching the western front in France at mid April and Australia at June, thus travelling as fast as people possibly could in those days. All and all it came at four waves, the second in late 1918 being the deadliest.

As the war itself had been horrible with its industrial way to kill much people as possible, and in horrible conditions such as cold, damp, malnutrition, already diseased with many bacterial infections as dysentery, so was the disease. Imagine of being saved from the artillery barrage, bullets, the gas, being buried or burned alive etc. First wave was often begun with ordinary flu symptoms like soar throat, fever etc. The second wave was so brutal that I quote the words of Laura Spinney de describe it best:

      [...] during the second wave, the disease was much more serious, often complicated by bacterial pneumonia, which was often the cause of death. This more serious type would cause heliotrope cyanosis to develop, whereby the skin would first develop two mahogany spots over the cheekbones which would then over a few hours spread to color the entire face blue, followed by black coloration first in the extremities and then further spreading to the limbs and the torso[...]. 

 Thus if you were saved from the variety of the poisonous gasses that were used as a weapon, you still suffocated to death by the fluids that filled your lungs. 

Naval Training Station, San Francisco, California (Yerba Buena Island), ca. November 1918. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command

However it was not only the armies of the belligerent nations that suffered. It affected the civilian population of any nation, and as it killed the young and able men of the trenches it hit hard on the young and able men everywhere, the stronger the victim the harder the disease killed, it was totally wrestling with humans resistance. It saved much older population, which might have been due to immunity that have been gained from 1889 - 1990 pandemic. Because of the war the economies were low, food was scarce and meagre, all added with other diseases. Fighting nations often choose to censor the news of the disease, fearing it would tear down the morale, thus helping the disease to spread. 

As for the statistics, this epidemic has estimated 500 million suspected cases, death toll being harder to estimate, largest number being up to 100 million deaths. Compare this to statistics of that "great" war which victims being at its largest estimate being 22 million deaths.

Wear a mask or go to jail, 1918. Mill Valley Public Library/Internet Archive

Laura Spinney: Pale Rider

Favorite Work of Art - Well, maybe this one

Hasegawa Touhaku (1539 - 1610): Pine Trees 日本語: 松林図屏風 (16th century, Azuchi-Momoyama-period), Tokyo National Museum, image via Google Art Project

 Can you tell what is your favorite work of art? If you know some major works of art or are deeper into it, you certainly get some ideas what it might be. I've had many proper candidates over the years, however after decades of collecting art digitally and studying art history in university, the very task of naming one certain work has gone nearly impossible. 

What is then a good work of art? This is of course, a subjective matter and we concept any kind of artwork differently, Besides no one held the right interpretation of artwork, including the very artist. For me it the feeling it summons from my consciousness or rather from subconsciousness. European art can be very arousing with its richness of detail, symbolism and vibrancy. Sometimes it can be too much and its symbolism includes elements that you have to decode with some expertise and knowledge. Don't understand me wrong, I like European art with all its splendor. But do we really need to use our brain all the time when we are looking an artwork?

I think not, and that is why my ultimate best candidate for best artwork ever is not European. At 16th century, when western artists were producing renaissance / manneristic art with all splendor, Japanese art gave us more simplified images, one could say it was less-is-more. With  few lines of ink the artist makes trees, ponds, few birds or a flower. The rest of the artwork comes within you.

If you live on forest rich region of this planet, like me, you can easily imagine it, or maybe you have lived that moment. You are standing on the edge of the forest, white mist covers nearly all. Suddenly a light gust of wind reveals a cluster of pines, you could almost hear that wind, maybe you could hear some droplets fall from pines. Hasegawa Touhaku painted these framed paper screens with one-colored ink, giving us familiar feeling from nature, way before Caspar David Friedrich (1774 - 1840) and nature loving paintings of romantic-era. Touhaku's work lets our own imagination make the rest, fill that vast creamy void between those trees. It gives us a moment of rest. And that is why I consider it as one of the best artworks ever made. And you know what? I have never actually seen it.

Hasegawa: Pine trees, Commons

Hasegawa Touhaki, Wikipedia