Quaranined+Freedom

Quarantined Freedom by Henry Camp

The modern world revolves around success. The best way to describe the human society would be “busy”. As more and more of the world becomes technologically advanced, more competition arises for success. The growth of the internet allows for individuals on opposite side of the world to compete. Over time, society’s appreciation of freedom, liberty, human nature, and love will disappear. The Earth is moving towards a //Brave New World// society. This shoebox represents the fall of human nature and liberty with allusions to //Brave New World// and Dali’s painting, titled //Soft Watches//. An allusion to //Brave New World// can be seen in the center of the box. Soldiers, all in the same uniform and position, surround a savage and a gorilla carrying its child. The gorilla represents motherhood, a practice only followed the savages. The soldiers represent the //BNW// people because they are powerful, they look the same, and they surround the orange paper that holds the savages, which represents the red-orange earth at the New Mexico savage reservation. Although the soldiers feel that they are doing nothing wrong, the savage looks through the glasses and sees a strict quarantine of his freedom. This is where the title of the box comes from. The helicopter above adds to the affect of the quarantine. Also in the orange paper are items that symbolize modern society. There is a statue of liberty, a candle, which shows enlightenment, a trophy, which shows rising above the rest and succeeding as an individual, and dice, which show the chance of birth, the chance of success, and the chance of death. The fact that these items are also being surrounded shows how modern society is changing and losing value in these items. As it moves towards a society centered around uniformity and constant success, things such as individuality will disappear. Also featured in the box is an allusion to //Soft Watches//. The surrealist painting by Salvador Dali represents a fall of modern society, in which constant work and business is destroying the aspect of time. The box features an ant crawling on a limp watch, an image very similar to what is seen in //Soft Watches.// The ant and watch also sit atop a cell phone, which reminds the viewer of the table that the watches sit on in Dali’s painting. These items show how work destroys society’s time and freedom because the ant represents work. Ant colonies embody the ideas of work, in which every ant works for everyone else (a value also seen in //BNW// ). The watch represents time, but the watch is broken, so it shows how the values of time have been destroyed by work. The cell phone relates to the painting, but it also adds a modern twist, and connects to the idea that society spends too much time with technology. The title of the box, //Quarantined Freedom//, represents the containment and the fall of freedom and liberty in modern society. All the items that embody today’s society are surrounded by soldiers, a helicopter, and an industrial gray backdrop. The quarantine shows how freedom has become isolated and overpowered, and how it will eventually disappear. This shoebox was created by finding random items in my house that I thought would be able to represent ideas from works we have studied this year. The items were then assembled into a representation the criticizes our society by predicting that it will fall into a //Brave New World// society.