"Home of the Free"

Religion? Speech? Fries? The Hyde Park Art Center wants to know what freedom means to you. Curator Jens Hoffmann is asking you to provide the art for this exhibition, which consists solely of what Chicagoans bring in to illustrate how freedom relates to their own experiences. (Several local artists are giving talks in conjunction with the show.)

On a recent morning, freedom was represented by—among other things—a package of birth-control pills, a paintbrush, a dollar bill, a campaign button for Alderman Preckwinkle, a local Unitarian Church’s mission statement and an American flag with rainbow stripes. Some objects have been tacked to the gallery walls; others are arranged on tables. Some are haunting: One person left a set of keys with a note saying, “Free to move wherever.” Some—for example, the lip balm—are puzzling. Others, such as the American flag–motif pen topped by a plastic Statue of Liberty, are just depressing.

The point of this exhibition is to move beyond Freedom™, but the assembled objects prove just how hard it is to do so. Most contributions could be linked to the Bill of Rights or FDR’s Four Freedoms, which include “freedom from want” and “freedom from fear.” Perhaps we’re hung up on these canned, collective freedoms because—though they are integral to our national identity—they are by no means guaranteed.

The longer this exhibition stays open, the more fascinating and complex “Home of the Free” will become. But only if you add something to the discussion.—Lauren Weinberg