FREEDOM
freedom
ˈfriːdəm/
noun
- 1.the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants.
"we do have some freedom of choice"synonyms: right to, entitlement to; More
- 2.the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved.
"the shark thrashed its way to freedom"synonyms: liberty, liberation, release, emancipation, deliverance, delivery, discharge,
non-confinement, extrication; More
This referred quite heavily to the way I feel when I am on a mountain. More specifically to the way I feel when I am skiing. Which in a way is quite contradictory as if I look at the act of skiing from another point of view, I could say that it is anything but free. Of course it depends but generally speaking, skiing is quite an expensive sport. For a ski holiday for example, it will cost hundreds of pounds, not just for the travel and accommodation but the ski hire, or extra transport cost for your skis, for the general process of a ski resort, the ski pass and really the list goes on. On a more personal level, I couldn't afford to go skiing for a week so I decided to work in the resort. The very act of working is not being free. The specific work I was doing was degrading, paid very little and made me feel extremely trapped. Trapped because I absolutely hated my job, it taking over most of my time outside of skiing but not wanting to leave because of my love of the mountains. Not very free at all.
But everything would be forgotten as soon as I was up high on the slopes, looking around at the vast landscape. Nothing will ever beat that feeling for me. It makes my heart jump just thinking about it. It is probably the most exiting feeling, like when you're a child and it's your birthday, except I haven't grown out of it. In fact, the feeling has grown.
This does a pretty good job at attempting to describe how I feel at the top of a mountain. The thing that gives it the most impact for me is the sort of halo around the top of the mountain as though there is light radiating off it and off the girl that's standing at the top.
Search for "freedom" on Pinterest:
Not overly exiting. Lots of "inspirational" quotes. Although interesting that mountains are the fourth image. It reads "you weren't born to just pay bills and die." I'm finding it hard to pin point why, but this sort of thing makes me feel a little angry. I don't think it's just down to it's wording. Is it pretentious? Maybe it's because of the people who share this sort of thing. I'm not convinced. Maybe it's because it doesn't accurately represent freedom to me, but then what does? Anyway, I don't like this sort of imagery.
I clicked on that image to see if it might real to me why I don't like this sort of thing.
"This is true...you were made for more! What if you could work a business that would grow to pay your bills, allow you time freedom and give you the funds to live the life you've dreamed of! Join my team as we promote a global brand that is growing exponentially! Now is the time!"
Its a plug for this person's global brand. What I red from this, having types in freedom and having been met with this, is that it might give someone the idea to leave their dead end job behind and head for the hills. What it actually reads is "JOIN OUR GLOBAL BRAND TO LIVE THE LIFE YOU'VE BEEN DREAMING OF!" This sort of thing isn't surprising, just disappointing. Maybe this is why I felt a sense of anger towards it, because it's basically a lie.
Time to move on.
When I think of freedom in terms of art, I am imagining the way in which someone uses their materials. I have recently done a presentation on Jean-Michele Basquiat who I believe is a perfect example for this.
The way in which he painted or used his materials is so loose. He is not confined by being afraid of what he is putting down. By not being precious about what he is doing, he is creating something very organic, layering up paint and other materials, scratching areas away and mark making in an almost child-like way. This to me resembles the way in which taggers make their marks so it was unsurprising to discover that Basquiat begun his journey with graffiti. On the streets of New York, together with his friend Al Diaz, SAMO became a sort of street philosopher, questions and statements being tagged on wall throughout the city.
Is the way in which we mark make the only real freedom we can experience? Even if you are quite constrained int he way you make marks, it could be argued that it is the way you express yourself therefore making it free. If could also be argued that you have set your own boundaries and are therefor held captive by the way in which you make work. Either way, unless you are working for someone, it is still freedom of expression. Even when you are doing a commission, you might have the freedom in the brief to come up with your own ideas. It seems that freedom is a strange thing to pin down. Can anything every truly be free? or maybe it can but maybe its fleeting.
Is freedom something we chase? When I look back at being a child, I feel like life was a lot simpler, I feel like my ideas where a lot more free slowing, creativity pouring out as imagination could not be stilled. But at the time, i felt constrained by the rules put in place my parents and teachers. This is a thing that has staid with me in one form or other, it might not be my parents, although their opinions on what I do is still in the back of my mind, but rather society. There is very little I can do to change it, or so it seems. Constrains are all around. Money is at the rout. How can I make money to survive? Spend money of course by going to university so I don't have to work as a waitress anymore. Ah then comes the dept. Don't worry when you leave you will be making money so that you can rent a place, pay your bills, buy some food, pay back your loans, afford a new pair of shoes but they will have to be black so you can wear them to work as you never managed to get your head around being a self employed illustrator.
Perhaps I'm being overly pessimistic but it is true that freedom in out western society is illusive at best and if it is found, it is fleeting. Freedom, from my perspective, is a feeling rather than a state of being. I suppose it depends how you define freedom.
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