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Taking Liberty
A first look at taking liberty can be rather shocking. It would appear as though the Statue of Liberty - symbol of American freedom and justice has been silenced.
She is seen as gagged with another symbol of freedom – The American flag. Its color is faded, almost whitewashed, the message being that to be patriotic one must refrain from speaking ones mind; merely accept that which you are told. Her right arm holding the still-flaming torch hangs at her side. The flames beginning to incinerate the newspapers scattered at her feet. {Newspapers – the embodiment of the idea of free speech, the free flow of thoughts and ideas and information in printed form}.
Her left arm grips the flag. Here though the flags colors remain intact. She will not relent in her struggle for freedom.
She seems to be alive. Such flow in her garments, the strained tilt to her head. The tension in her face and in her arms. Liberty struggles to remain free.
It is they who huddle at her feet that have become as statues. Their heads turned upwards as each wonders what shall be the outcome of this struggle.
Within each of them lies hope. They remain together. They recognize that there is strength in numbers. They are aware of the power of shared ideas freely expressed; The free-flow of communication; the validation of their individual opinion and thoughts comes at the price of listening to and validating the opinions and thoughts of others.
Moving closer to the sculpture the viewer recognizes himself in the reflection of the mirror behind Liberty. Now they are no longer just observer; They see themselves among those in the sculpture. They have become participant in the fight to maintain, defend, and preserve the very freedoms that established this country. They too have a voice; They have a right to express that voice and to have it heard. Do they have the strength and fortitude to engage those who would deny them their rights?
But then comes the question: What is on the other side of the mirror? As they move around to view from a different angle they are met by another figure.
He is separate from the others; isolated; chosen to remain uninformed and silent. Willing to let others think for him. He has no voice – Another speaks for him. He remains inaccessible; adrift in the opinions and thoughts of others. He has given up the fight. All hope is gone. His freedoms eroded. His right to free speech and thought abrogated by those in power – political, religious, and secular.
Again the viewer notices the mirror. But from this angle there is no reflection. It is a two-way mirror. All the viewer can see is that on this side – with no freedom of speech or communication and no concept of shared thought and expression –
The best one can do for mankind, and himself, is to remove those self-imposed barriers and continue the fight to remain forever free.
