NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Artist Suzette Marie Martin installed 200 memorial flags along the River Street flood control chute in her piece "Airborne Transmission, Prayer Flags for the Pandemic."

 

Martin's public art installation consists of 200 surgical style face masks sewn to white cotton flags that are visually activated by passing airflow. Each flag is “socially isolated" in individual panels of the fence along the Hoosic River in River Street Park.

 

"My intention is that this artwork acts as a visual prompt to keep community safety in mind, and compassion in heart, as we endure the long-term effects of this pandemic," Martin said.

 

In a press release Martin said the 200 memorial flags represent the 200,000 COVID-19 American deaths.

 

She said the the white flags recall the flu pandemic of 1918, when female volunteers hand-sewed stacks of white cotton masks for medical use and personal protection. The commercially available surgical style masks, sourced at a local grocery store, are manufactured in the People's Republic of China, where the SARS-CoV-2 virus first appeared. 

 

She said these two items, synthetic masks superimposed on cotton, reflect the interconnected global economy and the evolution of personal protective equipment since the last massive global pandemic.

 

The piece was installed Oct. 1 and will be removed on March 31.