Are You Living With Freedom?

“We feel free because we lack the very language to articulate our unfreedom.”

― Slavoj Žižek, Welcome to the Desert of the Real: Five Essays on September 11 and Related Dates

What constitutes freedom to you? What does it mean to be free, to exercise that right – are you fully free? These are questions perhaps not all of us consider, given the time and place in which we live. If we have no comparison, how do we know whether or not we are truly free? We can certainly look around the world and see that the concept is relative, but what does it mean at its very core?

Elizabeth Hazan joined us to talk about her recent show, Under the Sun, which ran until February 24 at Hesse Flatow Gallery. Hazan was looking for a title for this collection of oil on canvas paintings that captured how she pictures things like time of day, atmosphere and weather when she makes her work, as well as referring to the strange era of impending climate catastrophe we find ourselves in. While she is grateful to be on the planet, she feels the same sense of trepidation many of us do in this perilous feeling time. To learn more, listen to the complete interview.

Ryan Wallace sat down to chat about his recent exhibition, Leaves Turn Inside You, which ran until March 9 at Susan Inglett Gallery. The title is borrowed from a record by the band Unwound. Wallace often takes his titling from music, though there isn’t always a direct reference. He feels that much like a record or song can set a tone, art exhibitions can do the same. To learn more, listen to the complete interview.

Read the summary of this week's interviews and resources.