Woman wears bikini made of surgical masks to protest lockdown in LA, calls it the 'new AbNormal'
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: A performance artist has gone viral for wearing a bikini made out of blue surgical masks near a Trader Joe’s in Los Angeles to protest coronavirus lockdown. DaVida Sal shared the protest photos on her Facebook page, writing, “The New AbNormal".
Sal is against the lockdown restrictions and believes that Covid-19 is a hoax created to erode freedom by forcing people to wear masks in public and maintain a six-foot distance from each other. In the pictures posted on her social media account, the artist was seen not covering her mouth with the mask. Instead, she used one mask as a blindfold, making fun of the perceived 'blindness' of those complying with social distancing measures. She also used more surgical masks to cover her private parts as well as her legs, which seemed to be used as stockings.
One of Sal's Facebook posts also seemed to ask a few questions from the authorities as it said: “If the MASKS work, WHY the 6 feet? If the 6 feet works, WHY the Masks? If BOTH work, WHY the LOCKDOWN?” She also asked social media users to share their thoughts on her “artivism” as she wrote: “Please share your thoughts about the meaning of these images, what are they representing for you. We would like to hear from all of you. Now more than ever we must express ourselves with the brilliance we were created to be, followed by three hashtags, #artivism #riseup #endthelockdown.”
The artist’s posts soon went viral with 17,000 shares and more than 20,000 comments. However, the reaction to her stunt has been overwhelmingly negative as one user commented, “People, where I live, are dying, Karen. Protecting the most vulnerable people in our population is the right thing to do. Wearing a mask is not difficult”, while another one joked, “If seatbelts work, why have speed limits? If speed limits work, why have seat belts? If both work, why bother with car inspections? If anything reduces risk, why would we do anything to reduce risk further?”
“I’ve never wished coronavirus on someone but I would like to see what you would do if you actually got it. Would you burn some sage or some other stupid bullshit like that?” wrote a social media user slamming the artist.
This comes after President Donald Trump urged his supporters last month to help ‘LIBERATE’ three blue states from the lockdown. Trump has reportedly been looking for an opportunity to reopen the economy as he warned a continued shutdown would make people depressed and even lead them to suicide.
In a series of tweets, the POTUS said: "‘LIBERATE MINNESOTA!’ ‘LIBERATE MICHIGAN!’ 'LIBERATE VIRGINIA’" besides hitting out at New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, the Democrat who emerged as the main opponent of the president in the battle against Covid-19. He said Cuomo should spend more time “doing” than “complaining”.
The president’s move was seen to be an encouragement of the increasing protest against lockdown as a measure to stop the further spread of the novel coronavirus. As a result, demonstrations calling on authorities to end the shutdown took place in Michigan, Ohio, North Carolina, Minnesota, Utah, Virginia and Kentucky.