Creative work during a COVID-19 lockdown

In Csikszentmihalyi's 1990 theory of flow, individuals can become immersed in creative activities as well as other positive activities including exercise and meditation. Research found that individuals engaged in flow could persevere regardless of feeling boredom or fatigue. However, the flow state is more difficult to achieve in the face of stress (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990). The current research study utilized an archival database collected during a COVID-19 lockdown to examine the impact of flow-like activities (creative work, meditation, and inside exercise) on psychological well-being (boredom, fatigue, anxiety, and depression). Correlation analyses were conducted followed by hierarchical regression to determine the relative variance in boredom, fatigue, depression, and anxiety that was explained by creative work, exercise, and meditation ratings. Further, creative work was positively associated with meditating, indicating that participants who reported more frequent creative work also reported meditating more often. Additionally, creative work, inside exercise, and meditation were associated with psychological outcomes including feeling boredom and fatigue. However, only inside exercise was associated with decreased anxiety and depression symptoms. These findings should inform interventions to improve psychological well-being during difficult times such as the COVID-19 lockdown. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)

'The show must go on!': Hustling through the compounded precarity of Covid-19 in the creative industries.

The article offers a qualitative examination of compounded precarity in creative work during the Covid-19 pandemic. Drawing on repeated in-depth interviews with twelve creative workers operating in the creative industries in Ghana, we examine one of the most prevalent practices for navigating, coping with, and managing compounded precarity: that of hustling. We empirically identify and discuss three interrelated practices of hustling in creative work: digitalization, diversification, and social engagement. We present a new way of conceptualizing creative work in precarious geographies by theorizing hustling, and the associated worker resourcefulness, improvisation, savviness, hopefulness, and caring not merely as an individualized survival strategy, but rather as an agentic and ethical effort to turn the vicissitudes of life into situated advantages and opportunities, and even social change.

New Normal or Old Problems? “Hibernation” and Planning for Music Careers in the Victorian Music Industries during COVID-19

Compared to many nations in the global metropole, Australia experienced low per capita cases of the novel coronavirus during 2020. However, despite the nation’s geographical isolation, its dependence on international travel did result in a number of infections in early 2020, prompting federal and state governments to impose travel restrictions, social distancing orders, and eventually some state-wide lockdowns. The strategy to help affected businesses and workers was a combination of income support, tax relief and economic incentives to spur on spending as businesses were able to again operate—an approach that became known as “hibernation”. This article examines music workers’ expectations for their future, and the future of the music industries, post-“hibernation”. Through surveying and interviewing workers and business owners from across the Victorian music industries during a period of lockdown, it is explored how workers position themselves in relation to the idea that the sector could return to “normal” post-COVID, and these responses are situated within creative work research. Without common spaces of socialization and common economic objectives, workers within the hibernated music industries have demonstrated individualized approaches to their career planning, fragmented by the breakdown of daily rituals and routines. Some workers are orienting themselves to a future where the sector re-opens mostly unchanged, while others believe that the industry will be fundamentally different post-COVID. Workers’ activities in lockdown are shaped by these beliefs, with many exiting or preparing for an exit from music work, while those who anticipate staying undertake extensive labour to ensure the viability of their careers. The article concludes by considering what this might mean for the future of live music events in Victoria. © Equinox Publishing Ltd 2022, Office 415, The Workstation, 15 Paternoster Row, Sheffield S1 2BX