The Richness of Freedom Matte Paper Print - 16" x 20"

Freedom. Is it a feeling? Is it a continual experience beyond feelings that come and go? Certainly, we know what it’s like to set down heavy groceries and feel ‘freedom’ from a physical burden. We also know what it’s like to catch our breath after choking and feel the freedom of normal breathing again. Even sleep can function as freedom from stress, overwhelm, and uncertainty. Of course, we also have the impersonal freedom that comes from language; specifically, documents such as a constitution, charter, or bill of human rights whose words function to give readers abstract liberties of agency. Many people, when asked about the concept of freedom, believe it to constitute this impersonal abstraction of agency: the right to free speech; to freedom of assembly (protest); the right to privacy and anonymity; to freedom of religion–or just as importantly, to be free from religion; the freedom to move around the world physically and digitally without interference from authority figures, corporate or governmental.

We can also analyze another type of freedom: the freedom to have our basic needs met so that we may pursue higher goals. The philosopher Slavoj Zizek argues that just as video games have a basic background that we can ignore while playing, so too should societies possess a ‘background’ structure that provides for its members’ basic needs so that citizens (the ‘players’) enjoy the freedom to self-actualize. Using myself as an example, I was only able to start a business because I had my basic needs for food, shelter, healthcare, and so on met. When I was impoverished and struggling, it was neuropsychologically impossible to get above survival and start a merchandise store. Once I had the ‘background’ of my life quietly functioning, it was possible to focus attention and momentum on constructing a new goal, in this case, an online business.

In other words, in order to truly achieve permanent freedom for some goal, we need to have freedom from some goal. Using myself as an example again, it was only when I was free from the burden (or “goal”) of struggling and fighting to access healthcare, housing, and so on, was it possible to have the freedom for business ventures. To use another example, a lot of people in giant corporations sell outsiders the idea of ‘flex work’ or ‘gigs.’ They market this idea as ‘liberating’ workers from the strict, traditional 9-to-5 roles of their parents and grandparents; however, upon closer analysis, this “freedom” comes with harsh costs. In this model, workers are no longer eligible for benefits, healthcare, paid time off, and so on. The stress, overwhelm, and uncertainty of this dynamic diminishes freedom because instead of focusing on higher goals, workers are at survival. They are not free from the burden (or “goal”) of struggling and fighting to access healthcare, housing, and so on and therefore are not free for higher goals. They are perpetually stuck on a wheel of suffering, struggling, and sacrificing; their attention and momentum diminished and debilitated in a hunger game.

The ‘richness of freedom’ comes when we have a system that allows freedom from some burden as much as it allows freedom for some goal. The gold in this paper print represents this richness, while the blue represents the calm and serenity that comes with having a smoothly functioning ‘background’ of living. The soaring butterflies represent our agency in the midst of all of these dynamics and my hope is that we work together to achieve a true richness of freedom so that everyone is able to pursue their highest goals of living.

• Paper thickness: 10.3 mil
• Paper weight: 189 g/m²
• Opacity: 94%
• ISO brightness: 104%

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