ARTISTIC CREATIVITY AND THE MEANING OF FREEDOM

Despite the fact that today's art world is thought to be a pluralistic one, ostensibly free of many of the constraints inherent in past eras, many artists feel that they are still unable to create meaningful art. Thus we encounter a paradox. Too much freedom somehow leads to too little. It is argued here, however, that because freedom means significantly more than the mere absence of constraints, there is no paradox at all; the illusion of freedom has simply been mistaken for freedom itself. With a more inclusive conception of what freedom means, both in the context of art and in that of society more generally, we may be more likely to see freedom actualized. © 1990, SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC. All rights reserved.