EXPLORING FREESPACE by Tess Wonson

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Freespace is a concept that I’ve been exploring ever since meeting Greg at the grilled cheese joint on Ludlow Street six years ago. We played ping-pong out back and discussed the nature and invention of time, how people collectively manifest versions of reality, and how to reawaken a long forgotten universal language. There are infinite tangents to explore in Freespace and yet they string together to form the most perfect and beautiful web of conscious vs. subconscious, collective vs. individual, reality vs. fiction. It instantly made sense to me.

Greg decided that I was supposed to help introduce the concept of Freespace into the world. We would brainstorm for hours, delving into details of different components but where to start? With the script? With an art based social networking website? With a Freespace live exhibit? With the journal, or the picnic basket, or maybe a workbook of sort? His enthusiasm was contagious, our exchanges charged with unmeasured potential. It was like he'd brought me to uncharted territory that he found for us to map together. It felt like such a failure to lose the thread when we did, at least for me. It's obvious now that regardless of our deadlines or projections, the organic evolution of  Freespace is taking place in its own way, in its own time.

I think everyone can agree that art is an integral part of every society to develop since the beginning of civilization; one of our tag-lines was ‘join the conversation.’ If you don't already, start with journaling. Toss it later if you don’t like it but get it down. Where you go, who you meet, the connections made and how you feel about them. This is how you can start to find your own voice. You'll know when it’s time to start sharing. It took me years of developing and re-evaluating my perspectives, tone, and language before I could transcribe my own freespace with any confidence, and am always developing techniques and vetting myself - while I can share my thoughts and ideas more readily, I've still only just scraped the surface of deciphering which are worth sharing. I try to be patient with myself. After all, we are our own lifelong works in progress, but I’m getting off point. Creating our own process is a fascinating and an incredible journey. But use discretion, before a certain point of development it’s generally not very interesting to other people. Once you don't have to think about it anymore, your own process almost becomes a performance in and of itself; do the work and before long you will start to recognize the kernels worth more attention. Provocative, golden nuggets that enhance the world, inspire, activate and broaden perspectives.

I think of Freespace as a suggestion, an idea, a dimension of self-discovery through any medium of artistic approach. Anyone can utilize it. And regardless of whether you consider yourself to be an artist, exploration of your own Freespace is an admirable and supremely enjoyable endeavor. One that if followed will add value to all you put into the world, and besides, the personal benefits are extraordinary.

Such is the power of Freespace.