From a political perspective, even under oppression - art flourishes. From a philosophical perspective, art is a symbol that we are evolving as a species. From a personal perspective - it's the one part of my life that is wholly mine that i can always escape to.
art isnt free...some artists during their time periods were FORCED to draw certain things...for instince...(i forgot which period of time) but these certain artists were ONLY allowed to paint the rich and high class. so they couldn't paint anything besides that...
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Life is short and the art long, the occasion instant, experiment perilous, decision difficult.
Holy shit! That's my favourite image from a movie! I've just finished watching the Shawshank Redemption for the umpteenth time and feel like filling up! And I'm a guy!
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Post in the Indiana Jones forum.
You've failed to understand my point so spectacularly I hardly know where to begin. For one thing we are talking about symbolism (see topic thread) for another it's my personal view and thus find the statement "art isnt free" to be baffling, not to mention quite nonsensical.
However - to take your comment at its face value...
Yes, Artists through the ages have been forced through poverty and religious/political oppression to create things that go against their nature.
Michelangelo Buonarroti was forced against his will to paint the Sistine chapel - do you think that devalues it's significance as a work of art? Can you say categorically that he hated every moment and that he wasn't inspired as he worked?
People like Vermeer and Holbein placed all sort s of hidden meanings within there work, so that while remaining palatable to the public and the people who commissioned them it still spoke of there darker secrets & desires. Freedom even under the yoke - thats what art gives.
Moral of the story?
As Peter Falk says in Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter:
"Kid, life is a shitstorm, and when it's raining shit, there's no umbrella like art."
I think freedom is more of a feeling than a symbol. I suppose some symbols can stand for places that are supposed to be freer-in what you can say and what you can do-than others, but is it freedom? People come to the US from all over the world because American society seems freer to them. But is it really free? I believe it is...if you have enough money to buy that feeling of freedom. I certainly don't feel free, and I don't feel the US is the bastion of freedom I was taught in grade school that it was, so symbols like the American flag or the Statue of Liberty don't represent freedom, anymore, to me. I'm feeling very soap-boxy now so I'm going to stop.
I agree with you ChinaNiki in the point that the whole concept in a land of freedom these days is mostly dependent on how much money is in your pocket. I'm fairly happy with my own level of freedom at the moment and there are people in other countries in far worse situations than me. Although we are all free to an extent. At least free to decide our own actions.
"Man is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does."
"Freedom is what you do with what's been done to you."
- Jean-Paul Sartre
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"Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow. Don't walk behind me, I may not lead. Just walk beside me and be my friend."
-Albert Camus
Although I agree that true "freedom" doesn't exist, the closest thing to it, to me at least, is like Zen... It's hard to describe, but the Japanese call it "kensho"... It's sort of like a natural high Other Buddhist sects try to achieve enlightenment through hours of meditation... Followers of Zen believe in a much simpler form of enlightenment, and one that isn't necessarily lasting. There's a book called "Zen and the art of motorcycle riding," which best describes it to me. If you can imagine doing something that you love doing, and getting so engrossed in it that you have an out-of-body kind of experience, that's the closest thing to freedom for me. I hope I explained that well enough...
Hippies protesting is the greatest symbol of freedom. Because, if it were up to me, they'd get bulldozed off of the street for blocking traffic, douches.
Freedom is not truly there we are free to move about but we are bound to the limits of our bodies. Freedom is all a matter of percepton we are bound in captivity to the laws of nature there fore we arent free but we can change those laws by changing our setting it is more so a matter of Option and State of mind for Example a caged bird on would argue isnt free but would the Bird rather be Free from danger not have to hunt for his food have a much better chance of living then be sent out to the wild to fend for himself You Can choose
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KMC Community Forums
Aug 7th, 2004 06:54 PM
Other Buddhist sects try to achieve enlightenment through hours of meditation... Followers of Zen believe in a much simpler form of enlightenment, and one that isn't necessarily lasting. There's a book called "Zen and the art of motorcycle riding," which best describes it to me. If you can imagine doing something that you love doing, and getting so engrossed in it that you have an out-of-body kind of experience, that's the closest thing to freedom for me. I hope I explained that well enough...
Dont Rip it off 
