Toilet paper art: Coronavirus has brought us to this
Toilet paper has played quite a large roll (sorry) in people's response to the outbreak of coronavirus. And now, a group of artists are using it as a canvas to raise some much-needed funds.
Launched by Amsterdam-based creative directors Guillaume Roukhomovsky and Blaz Verhnjak, the GIVE-A-SHEET project sees a handful of artists around the globe, who are social distancing and working from home, creating artworks on pieces of toilet paper.
"Because toilet paper has become the new safe haven currency, there’s no reason artists shouldn’t make it their new best canvas," reads the website. "The initiative not only aims to raise funds to tackle the pandemic, but also aims to inspire everyone out there to hold on and stay home, with a simple little piece of art (and humour)."
Works are all for sale for between $25 and $100 (or you can add more as a donation), and it's all for a good cause, with 100 percent of proceeds going towards the activities of the COVID-Solidarity Response Fund for the World Health Organisation (WHO), which supports countries to prevent, detect, and respond to the pandemic. In particular, donations to this fund go toward the activities of the global Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan, which includes things like buying and shipping essential supplies (masks, gloves etc.) for frontline workers, producing evidence-based guidelines for the public, and even accelerating efforts to develop vaccines, tests, and treatments. So, all very important work.
Roukhomovsky and Verhnjak started the project after they "simply felt guilty not being able to help more" during the pandemic.
"After spending the first days of our quarantine playing all possible co-op games on Playstation or exploring all possible variations of home workout, we just had the urge to help those who fight the pandemic on the frontline," reads their statement on the website. "We are not doctors, we are not nurses, we are not decision makers…but we are designers, so we found a way to tap into what we do the best. And we hope it will help, even if just a little."
Here are just a few examples of the art on offer, all for sale, with shipping an additional $5. Some are inspired by the current situation, others are more obscure:
If you're an artist and want to get in involved you can get in touch with the GIVE-A-SHEET crew by emailing [email protected].
Every little bit helps.
Topics Health Social Good COVID-19
Shannon Connellan is Mashable's UK Editor based in London, formerly Mashable's Australia Editor, but emotionally, she lives in the Creel House. A Tomatometer-approved critic, Shannon writes about entertainment, tech, social good, science, culture, and Australian horror.
