“This work is part of the socio-historical project CRITICIZE BY CREATING by Breezy Art”

"The liberty of thought is the only guarantee against an illiberal society." --unknown but sometimes attributed to authors like Frédéric Bastiat

Are our thoughts completely free? The concept of freedom of thought has been discussed for centuries, but it became particularly relevant during the Age of Enlightenment and the French Revolution.

Freedom of thought is fundamental and directly related to freedom of expression. Even in free societies, there are always influences and manipulations. In systems of political oppression, the issue is even more critical.

This artwork is an animated digital collage based on an original pencil drawing on glass. The mouth of the figure is outside the artwork, indicating the limited freedom of expression that is again more and more prevalent in our time. However, the head piece, borrowed from the famous van Eyck painting "Portrait of a Man with a Red Turban" is split open, and the thoughts represented by butterflies fly around freely, as they should.

The other main element of the artwork is an abstract interpretation of our thoughts within a frame that represents certain influences and manipulation.

The binary code reads: are my thoughts free?

011000010111001001100101001000000110110101111001001000000111010001101000011011110111010101100111011010000111010001110011001000000110011001110010011001010110010100111111

At least they should be, just like freedom of expression!