Liberti(n)es : KEITH J. VARADI

Liberti(n)es

As humans, we are granted certain liberties. As citizens, we often take these liberties for granted. It is assumed that we have control (agency) over these liberties. But what happens when we lose this control or surrender this agency, willfully or not?

Many times, we find ourselves confronted with a situation that necessitates an extreme reactionary decision: do we take the limits of these liberties too far, or not far enough? But then, isn't the greater question: what is too far, or not far enough? And in the aftermath, we are faced with a secondary confrontation—the repercussions of our initial decision, typically one made in the confusion and conflation of emotions and reason, morals and ethics.

A libertine is easily thought of as someone who cheerfully neglects emotions, reason, morals, and ethics. A libertine is classically defined as an individual who tends to ignore the behavior generally accepted, or at the very least, tolerated, by society at large. The artists, poets, musicians, and performers gathered for this exhibition and presented here do not ignore society's rules, nor do they necessarily break them; rather, they question them (with authority and autonomy).

Particularly, in American society, individualism is clung onto with such pride that it can become something like a crutch, constructed of balsa wood. Many stances are held up by flimsy arguments that can be snapped if leaned on ever so slightly, one way or the other. However, going beyond simply questioning society’s rules, these particular “libertines” presented at Open Space acknowledge the faults of extremism and moderation. It could be argued that they use extremism in moderation, which is not only a metaphor for an alternative to such precarious “bigger picture” problems, but art in itself.

The works that comprise Liberti(n)es are what makes this middle-ground area of extremism in moderation what it is; they are not joy rides, they are not car chases, they are slow strolls down back alleyways, revealing realities we often ignore, deflect, or suppress.

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