Catherine Smet
Van Nhi Nguyen
Catherine:
"It's true, the word freedom makes a lot of cliché images come to mind but i can't help but think about our current way of living and how in some ways we don't feel free anymore. How the police has become an authority that we're very aware of and there are many ways you can break rules now as a well behaved citizen. And it's something we're all thinking about frequently. When will we get to experience the freedom we had before? I'm waiting for new beginnings because i don't think i've ever experienced a time in my life that felt so bad for so long with little to look forward to.
I looked at finding freedom in something ordinary too.
I take the same route when i get off the train and have taken it for years. On the corner of the street was a dreadful ugly building that finally got torn down a few weeks ago. The only thing that's left now is this wallpainting of a lighthouse by the sea and a few seagulls. I wouldn't call it a masterpiece. But the fact that this is, what that awful building i hated walking past for years, was hiding, gives me a sense of freedom. There are still some of the ugly remains of the fences and the power box which is part of the street but this blue wall is almost like the light at the end of the tunnel. "
"It's true, the word freedom makes a lot of cliché images come to mind but i can't help but think about our current way of living and how in some ways we don't feel free anymore. How the police has become an authority that we're very aware of and there are many ways you can break rules now as a well behaved citizen. And it's something we're all thinking about frequently. When will we get to experience the freedom we had before? I'm waiting for new beginnings because i don't think i've ever experienced a time in my life that felt so bad for so long with little to look forward to.
I looked at finding freedom in something ordinary too.
I take the same route when i get off the train and have taken it for years. On the corner of the street was a dreadful ugly building that finally got torn down a few weeks ago. The only thing that's left now is this wallpainting of a lighthouse by the sea and a few seagulls. I wouldn't call it a masterpiece. But the fact that this is, what that awful building i hated walking past for years, was hiding, gives me a sense of freedom. There are still some of the ugly remains of the fences and the power box which is part of the street but this blue wall is almost like the light at the end of the tunnel. "
Van:
"The range of iconography that people use to represent what freedom means to them is vast. the most iconic and conventional imageries are often fireworks, open roads, bicycles and motorbikes are also quite common, the ability to travel, etc. but then examine a more interesting aspect of freedom there are mundane, everyday things like the freedom, or ability to walk, maybe for the first time after recovering from something, or being able to sleep in after a long hard week of work, things of that nature.
I look into what it means to have personal freedom. Freedom to me is having a space of my own, to be able to have quiet time to myself and work on things that I am passionate about. Being able to live alone for the first time in my tiny studio apartment is something I treasure, for the fact that I had to live in houses with multiple roommates before and it’s never really a completely peaceful time. my image this time is another self portrait of me in my apartment, again. i don't think i’d be able to create images like this without the freedom and privilege of living in an apartment all by myself. it’s really something to cherish."
"The range of iconography that people use to represent what freedom means to them is vast. the most iconic and conventional imageries are often fireworks, open roads, bicycles and motorbikes are also quite common, the ability to travel, etc. but then examine a more interesting aspect of freedom there are mundane, everyday things like the freedom, or ability to walk, maybe for the first time after recovering from something, or being able to sleep in after a long hard week of work, things of that nature.
I look into what it means to have personal freedom. Freedom to me is having a space of my own, to be able to have quiet time to myself and work on things that I am passionate about. Being able to live alone for the first time in my tiny studio apartment is something I treasure, for the fact that I had to live in houses with multiple roommates before and it’s never really a completely peaceful time. my image this time is another self portrait of me in my apartment, again. i don't think i’d be able to create images like this without the freedom and privilege of living in an apartment all by myself. it’s really something to cherish."