Artist and scholar Dahlia Bloomstone invites visitors to a participatory program reflecting on the shifting digital landscapes of the COVID-19 pandemic five years later. This program considers the ongoing socioeconomic, political, and interpersonal effects of the pandemic.

We will first view new video/video performance work, "Does that hurt the fish?", followed by a gameplay session “together” on individual devices of Roblox game Little Darlings, sick to navigate pandemic-related ephemera in real time. In the game chat, participants will share reflections and COV!D secrets, while also considering Roblox as a politically fraught, shifting platform that mirrors broader culture. What does it mean that we’ve lived through a pandemic, and how can we collectively prepare for the next?

"Does that hurt the fish?" is centered around a mundane exchange between a regular client and erotic worker at an aquarium during an impending pandemic, just before businesses are officially closed, aiming to capture the complexities of specific kinds of affective labor under the landscapes of U.S. capitalism and healthcare. It highlights the enduring sexual micro-economies that defied the dire, apocalyptic warnings of the pandemic. The narrative thinks through the absurdity of the strip club during the pandemic — many operated and remained open despite the government shutdown, including the artist's own place of work.

Participants should bring their own devices with Roblox and Instagram apps pre-downloaded. While all devices are welcome, the use of a laptop computer or iPad is strongly encouraged for the best gameplay experience. Headphones are also recommended. If you cannot attend in person, join the Roblox game here. A screen recording of the collective gameplay can be found on Bloomstone’s website after the program.

Please note: to join the Roblox game, you will need a Roblox account that is age verified to be 17+.

About the Artist

Dahlia Bloomstone is an artist that thinks through the fraught space between social value and respectability, moral regulation, the parameterization of digital ecosystems, and ontologies of specific modes of affective labor. She considers the economies and politics around certain technologies, which often function as stand-ins for deeper cultural and digital inheritances. She was a 2024–25 Elaine G. Weitzen Studio Program Fellow in the Whitney Museum’s Independent Study Program and is currently the SUNY Oswego Artist-in-Residence.