Kristen Surla, b. 1991
Kapampangan + Ilokano by lineage, American by location
Pandem[ic]onium, 2021
Photography and Canva
Following the emergency pivot to online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, some educators administered surveys to better understand students’ lived realities and support them in the classroom. Surla’s Pandem[ic]onium is a student’s visual response to student support survey questions.
The images and video serve as a raw autoethnographic inquiry into the artist’s mind as a student during COVID19. When filling out surveys educators can only draw meaning from a students’ written responses. If students do not reflect and write down their experiences in these student support surveys, the educator will not know the scope, depth, and impact of their concerns.
Surla’s use of images and video offers a “flashback” of a students’ mind when filling out the survey. Notice, the visuals tell the story rather than the students’ written words. The intentional limitation of words by Surla emphasizes students’ hesitation or unwillingness to disclose concerns despite their needs.
The intended audience for Pandem[ic]onium is first, for educators-- those who teach, work with, and support students. Surla urges educators to use this as a reflective piece on how students experience complex systemic issues of access, safety, and health. What is your reaction to the visuals and how does this affirm or change how you would approach student support in your classroom? Surla offers the potential of technology (visuals, photography, etc) as a tool students can use to offer insight into their lived realities. Although much of education is focused on writing, what possibilities lie in critical thinking, dialogue, and comprehension when using other modes of inquiry?