Aimé Put

ZOAR

2021: the artistic path to The Fake Zone in a series of monotypes end of 2021

I rediscover my neighbourhood zone, in imagination my dream of freedom as a visual artist burgeons.

No, ZOAR is not just a one-sided idyllic haven, it can be harsh and dangerous. Here lies the opportunity to unwind, to find inner silence. Here is space to find yourself again. The road there was exhausting, but the longing irresistible. The asylum seeker is not yet thinking about the further future. First breathe again.

Indeed, the term ZOAR is apt to denote the enclosed domain of imagination. That enclosure, however, means a seemingly restricted territory where unlimited thinking and imagination is possible, outside the conventions imposed on us in the physical world, supposedly for the common good. Just like those imposed on us by the pandemic. And yet, that which we experience and recognise as freedom remains subject to rules and conventions. Real freedom turns out to be very restrictive. Ideal freedom beckons those who remain masters of their limitations.