How creators see digital freedom
Zsófi Kemény, writer and poet, says that “freedom sometimes comes all at once, but to hold onto it takes work.” In her poem titled Power Outage, she captures the unexpected situations in which anyone can experience true freedom but to turn the moment into a work of art requires a strong focus. She explains this in her special style, transporting the reader to an absurd Paris theme park. It is a poem of wry tone and no compromise, with a good dose of generational sentiment. Because “freedom has no conditions”.
Power Outage
Power outage at a Paris fairground. A hundred metres up,
frozen mid-flight. Forced to practice floating.
The cheerful machine music falls silent. No colours flash.
The sky is waving with vapor trails, birds laugh out loud.
We break free from our fear of heights. We hold our breath,
then let it go, returning the forest
its endless hum.
The bellow of stags clashes with honking horns.
Down below, millions’ tiny problems stir, people are ants,
and their troubles, ant eggs. We could be industrial climbers,
wallpapering with floral patterns or parental patterns on walls that have long since fallen between us.
Invisible giants dance on a glass floor in the Paris airspace.
Though we watch them from below, to those below, we’re above.
The fairground strikes a pose for a massive photograph, flash pops, thunder rolls.
In distant cities, in absurd situations, the scent of freedom hits us.
Freedom has no conditions, or it does. That’s freedom itself.
We don't look inside ourselves, just stare blankly within,
because freedom sometimes comes all at once, but to hold onto it takes work.
To live freedom even when the everyday is our master.
Yes, there’s a power outage, but secretly, we’re learning to fly.
In his short story, József Attila Prize-winning writer György Dragomán connects characters through images, memories and moments that bridge the distance, thus displaying the possibilities opened up by unlimited creativity. The author uses a seemingly simple life situation to show how much confidence a photo taken online can give you when proposing – even if it reminds you of loved ones thousands of miles away. It not only makes you look forward to meeting them even more, but may also confirm an important decision. In Dragomán’s short story, freedom and creativity are made tangible through digital connectivity.
The Chimney
Eszter, my love, keeps sending me photos from Arles.
It’s good because it feels like I’m there with her – I can see the streets, the squares, the river, the amphitheater – but it’s also painful, because all I can think about is how I wanted to take her there myself, to the town of her favorite painter, Vincent, to finally ask her to marry me after seven years together.
Many say we don’t belong together at all, that we’re like earth and sky. I’m a moss researcher, always looking down, while she’s a graphic artist, a portrait and street photographer, whose whole world revolves around travel and excitement.
Two days ago, I found out that, of all weekends, this is the one Professor Yamashita – the world’s leading moss expert from Japan – would be visiting our institute. I was crushed, knowing that I couldn’t go with her.
Eszter offered to cancel her trip, but I convinced her otherwise; the internet would keep us connected, and I could see the city through her eyes, through her photos. She should enjoy this sudden freedom, I told her, and make some truly great shots.
I scroll through the photos she sends, trying not to feel sad, trying not to see all of this as some kind of sign.
Then, suddenly, a photo arrives that’s completely unlike her. At first glance, it’s just a worn rooftop and a chimney. She wrote only three words beside it: “This is us.” I lift the phone closer, zoom in on the photo, and I can see it now – the patch of moss clinging to the chimney’s base, and next to it, a small tree sapling pushing its way toward the sky from a crack in the stones.
My face breaks into a smile. I know that when she comes home, and I go to meet her, and I finally ask her the question, she’ll say yes.
In a digital painting, illustrator Dorottya Szert-Szabó showed how this freedom brings the possibility of unlimited creativity.
The works of fashion expert Bence Csalár and poet Márton Simon will debut at Yettel’s social media platforms in the coming weeks. Commenting on digital freedom, Bence Csalár said: “Fashion is also becoming increasingly digital, and it even facilitates digitisation. After capturing your own outfits, you can share them with others, joining the endless and reciprocal cycle of fashion inspiration.” He added that the metaverse has completely transformed the fashion world, as existing clothes can be seen as 3D designs. “Unlimited freedom: that’s what fashion is about in 2024. In fact, it should have always been about that”, he said.