Nick Cave on Quarantine: Time to Stop and Reflect, Not Create

In a blog post, Nick Cave responds to fan questions about how he would spend quarantine—whether with a solo piano performance, a streaming concert with his band, a full album, or an isolation diary. Instead, he argues this is a moment to stop and pay attention, not to bury oneself in creative work. He writes that we have stepped into history and are living an unprecedented event; daily news provides dizzying information unthinkable weeks ago. Cave suggests artists should take a backseat and reflect on their function. Christian Caliandro, writing on Artribune, expands on this idea, arguing that filling every minute with efficiency—streaming, reading, socializing—is a waste and an evasion. He contends that the virus amplifies existing processes and that focusing on the 'after' is an illusion. Caliandro proposes that art should not exploit the emergency as a theme but let itself be traversed by it, becoming a model for living through uncertainty. The article includes a reference to Armando Perna's work 'Nel presente infinito' (2019) and Zanbagh Lotfi's painting 'Tu tienimi (I’m just killing time)' (2019).