Freedom Project
"Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose"
says Janis Joplin in her song "Me and Bobby McGee".
This artwork has been completed!
The two information graphics "Freedom" and "Freiheit" as well as the German performance "Wunderzauber" and the English performance "Box of Secrets" are part of it. All four of these art works are based on the German and English comments on freedom I received until the end of February 2017.
The information graphics and the German performance as well as the German version of the English performance were shown at the 4. Warmbronner Biennale 2017, an art event in my home town.
What is freedom?
What is freedom? How do you obtain it? Are you free? Is it a good thing to be absolutely free? Which freedoms would or wouldn't you give away?
- Final Information Graphics ->
- Early Drafts ->
- Performances ->
- Comments the artwork is based on ->
- How will I use the comments? ->
Final Information Graphics
The Information graphic "Freiheit" (left) is based on the German Comments I received until the end of February 2017.
The Information graphic "Freedom" (right) is based on the English Comments I received until the end of February 2017.
Click on the graphics to see a bigger picture.
Early Drafts
Information Graphics
The Information graphic "Freiheit" (left) is based on the German Comments I received until 03. January 2017.
The Information graphic "Freedom" (right) is based on the English Comments I received until 20. December 2016.
Click on the graphics to see a bigger picture.
Performances
Literary Performance Based on English Comments: Box of Secrets (Zauberkiste)
The first English version of the literary performance is named "Box of Secrets". The multidimensional piece includes themes such as friendship, trust, the struggle against ourself and the question which freedoms we dare to use within a society. Two persons are incorporated by a single actress and utensils such as a chain, a bolt cutter and of course the 'box of secrets' are used. Contrary to the original plan, it ended up to not be a poem at all, but rather a small play.
The 8 minute piece is mostly based on the English comments I received until 20. December 2017. On January 09. 2017 I performed it at the Merlin in Stuttgart as part of the "Secrets from the Writer's Den" reading of the Writers in Stuttgart. Later the German version was also performed at the 4. Warmbronner Biennale 2017.
Literary Performance Based on German Comments: Wunderzauber (Miracle)
Also a single person act for two (two personas incorporated by a single person), Wunderzauber / Miracle deals with questions of power and freedom and requires three special items from the audience temporarily gifted to one of the personas to set her free: Something soft, somehting beautiful and somehting loved.
"Wunderzuber" was performed during the 4. Warmbronner Biennale 2017, it's English version "Miracle" during a reading with the Writers in Stuttgart.
Comments the artwork is based on:
For me Freedom means having space.
Space to move around mentally and physically.
Space to change my mind.
Space to unshackle myself from any social construct I choose.
And space to re-shackle if I choose to.
Nina Simone said, 'Freedom is no fear!'
As I get older I find myself more and more in spaces, where my body literally tingles with delight from the sense of fearlessness.
That delight is tinged with danger though and so I suspect that is the reason complete freedom will only find me at death.
I don't have a concrete 'what freedom means to me' spiel. The vague fuzzy concept is that true freedom is the ability to indulge in any whim or fancy you like--as long as you're willing to accept the consequences of your actions. Even -- especially -- the unintended consequences.
Not so quick but silly example. That stop sign at the intersection never stopped any vehicle (except maybe a child's bicycle and that only because they collided with it). It is a guideline for vehicular behaviour. Some come to a complete and legal stop each and every time they approach the intersection. Some slow to an almost stop and as they can see the way is clear they continue on without stopping completely. Some blow right though it without a thought or a care.
All laws are like this, in that they do not prevent or restrict human actions, but outline the consequences for those who break the law. Assuming they are caught and prosecuted, that is.
Freedom is the ability to choose "I shall do this thing because it is right, I shall not do that thing because it is wrong" and accept the consequences if/when those actions or inactions break the laws of man.
Freedom is only possible when you are the last human being. Then no one but you decides what will happen next and there is no opposition. Then and only then are you free. But freedom would be better shared with others and for that humans need consensus and working together on how we choose live our lives. For these reasons I do not need freedom, I need us all to work and share.
Freedom is the (very limited) room to do what we really want to within the boundaries that the society that we live in allows us before we are excluded, abandoned or punished in another way by it. In that sense being free is an illusion, a fairytale (among many others) we tell ourselves to cope with life and death, as a great part of our lives we suppress our wants in order to remain part of our system.
"Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose" -- Janis Joplin, singing 'Me & Bobby McGee'
How will I use the comments?
As the project is finished, new comments are no longer possible. The comments were used as a base for the artwork mentioned above and are displayed on this website.
Unleashed creativity, choice, responsibility, respect for others, focus, action, optimism, bending the rules: this is freedom.
O'Brien Browne, Writer, Life Coach, Seminar Leader, Public Speaker from USA/Germany (20 Dec 2016, 22:41)