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(800) LA TIMESFounded Dec. 4, 1881
Vol. CXXXIX No. 95
LOS ANGELES TIMES (ISSN 0458-3035)
is published by the Los Angeles Times,
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Printed with soy-based ink on recycled newsprint from wood byproducts.dominated life for two
months.
Originating from the Chi-
nese city of Wuhan, the virus
has lodged itself into the
zeitgeist here, inspiring
songs, surrealist art, politi-
cal cartoons, comics and
TikTok memes — the latter
in no small part due to the le-
gions of bored teenagers
stuck at home with schools
closed.
The collective effort — a
surge of humor and creativ-
ity in the face of disturbing
infection rates — has high-
lighted the disease’s strain
on families and the failings of
governments to protect
their people. But it’s also
serving like a coping mecha-
nism, providing levity to a
crisis that has shown few
bounds.
In an animated music
video from an unlikely
source, Vietnam’s Ministry
of Health may have unwit-
tingly delivered the epidem-
ic’s anthem — a catchy
three-minute tune that
sounds like it belongs on
Top 40 rotation reminding
citizens to wash their hands
vigorously, avoid touching
their faces and stay clear of
crowded places.
The song by Vietnamese
singers Erik and Min was
deemed a “genuine club
banger” Sunday by comedi-
an John Oliver on his HBO
show “Last Week Tonight.”
It has spawned a dance
on TikTok replete with
hand-washing motions and
a few “dabs” for good mea-
sure. The music and video
app is awash with co-
ronavirus-themed clips and
memes, including one that
features various gags to a
song that repeats the line
“It’s corona time” above an
’80s electro beat.
One TikTok video of a
young Indonesian woman
seated on a plane set against
the Celia Mara-sampling
song “Opaul” begins with a
banner for another well-
worn meme: the coronavirus
check. She then ticks off a
safety checklist, putting on a
face mask, glasses and the
hood to her sweatshirt,
whose strings she pulls so
tightly that only her eyes and
forehead show.
Political art inspired by
the virus has also acceler-
ated across the region.
Badiucao, a Chinese dig-
ital cartoonist based in Mel-
bourne, Australia, who’s at-
tracted the ire of authorities
in Beijing for his stand on
human rights, recently
shifted his attention from
the Hong Kong pro-democ-
racy protests to the Chinese
response to the outbreak —
particularly the govern-
ment’s muzzling of doctors
who tried to sound the alarm
about the virus.
The Shanghai native,
who uses a pen name to pro-
tect his identity, recently
posted on Instagram a black
and white image of Li Wen-
liang, the Wuhan physician
who died of the coronavirus
Feb. 7 and has become a
symbol of popular grief and
anger. Splashed across Li’s
left eye is a red puzzle piece
dripping blood — a reference
to a Chinese diplomat who
appeared on Australian TV
and compared Western me-
dia coverage of China’s virus
response to picking pieces of
a jigsaw puzzle to portray
the country in a bad light.
In an earlier image made
to look like an informational
poster titled “How to Con-
trol the Wuhan Pneumonia,”
Badiucao drew a person
holding a white face mask,
then scrunching it up and
stuffing it in their mouth.Beneath, it reads: “Silence is
Health.”
The 33-year-old artist,
who struggles to find venues
to exhibit his work because
of Chinese pressure, said
there was little difference be-
tween China’s response to
the Hong Kong protests and
the Wuhan virus.
“It shows how easily a do-
mestic problem caused by
censorship or bad govern-
ance can influence everyone
in the world,” Badiucao said.
“I find it ironic,” he add-
ed. “As a China-born artist
trying to reflect the reality in
China, I feel like there’s tons
of material I can use to ex-
pand my artwork. But it’s ac-
tually very sad. I’d rather
have nothing to work with.
Our reality is really bad.”
Censors in China make it
nearly impossible for sub-
versive memes to go viral,
but Badiucao said he’s seena few attempts from afar.
One was a play on Li’s so-
called letter of reprimand
from the Wuhan police forc-
ing the doctor to acknowl-
edge with two fingerprints
that he had spread false ru-
mors. To evade censors, an
artist created a copy of the
document devoid of writing
but whose meaning was un-
mistakable because of the
remaining presence of Li’s
fingerprints.
“If you’re creative, you
can trigger the same emo-
tion in a minimal way,” Badi-
ucao said.
There’s nothing subtle
about Hong Kong artist
Tommy Fung’s work. His
fantastical, digitally en-
hanced photographs used to
depict his city in more whim-
sical times: images of him-
self sitting as a cross-legged
giant atop the iconic Star
Ferry, the former Kowloon-Canton Railway clock tower
tied in a knot.
Today, that creativity is
channeled toward reflecting
the panic and desperation
that’s gripped Hong Kong,
which has reported two
deaths and 107 infections
due to the coronavirus as of
Friday evening.
His work now includes
one image of swarms of pro-
testers climbing on top of
one another in a “World War
Z” motif. They reach for a
pair of blue masks floating in
the air. Another depicts
Hong Kong riot police carry-
ing guns with their heads re-
placed by giant, spiky, green
virus cells.
And in another, Fung
shows mask-clad pedestri-
ans staring at a man with a
tentacled alien head covered
in strings of slime. The cap-
tion reads: “Nowadays when
you see someone coughing
and not wearing a mask.”
“I have to exaggerate
things to make it more eye-
catching,” Fung said. “It’s
hard to be optimistic right
now. I’m trying to make peo-
ple laugh and entertain
them.”
In South Korea, where
the virus has hit the hardest
outside China, several dozen
cartoonists behind popular
online comics began posting
a series of virus-themedstrips last week titled “Let’s
overcome this together.”
Variously styled as hor-
ror, cute anime or uplifting
public service announce-
ments, some of the comics
relayed information about
hand-washing and other
precautions; others thanked
front-line medical staff
working to combat the out-
break.
One, by a cartoonist with
the pen name Quacy, de-
picted a mother keeping
away from her young
daughter for two weeks as
she awaits the results of her
coronavirus test.
“We want to hold hands.
We want to feel each other’s
warmth,” the comic says.
“We need to keep distance
because we love each other.”
Another showed an ex-
hausted medical worker in
goggles and the white cover-
all biohazard suit that has
become an all-too-familiar
sight. A baby bear sits down
next to him and calls him a
superhero, asking to be his
sidekick.
Back in Hong Kong, Mak
has tried to keep the mood
light. She recently posted a
follow-up to her “Torn” cov-
er, a workout video made
specially for those under
home quarantine. The
panic-buying-themed exer-
cises include a jog on the
spot with bags of rice and a
stretch and reach for toilet
paper you might find on the
top shelf of a supermarket
aisle.
That video didn’t get
nearly as many clicks, but
the last few weeks of mo-
mentary fame succeeded in
one way, Mak said. “This
whole viral thing got me dis-
tracted from the virus.”Times staff writer Victoria
Kim in Seoul contributed to
this report.Vir us
spawns
art and
memes
PROTEST ARTdepicting the coronavirus is seen in a pedestrian tunnel this week in Hong Kong. The virus has lodged itself into the zeit-
geist in Asia, inspiring songs, surrealist art, political cartoons, comics and TikTok memes fueled by bored teenagers stuck at home.Photographs byMarcus YamLos Angeles TimesKATHY MAK, in Tamar Park in Hong Kong, has tried to keep the mood light.‘It’s hard to be
optimistic right
now. I’m trying to
make people
laugh and
entertain them.’
— Tommy Fung,
artist in Hong Kong[Creativity,from A1]
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