Caroline Anderson and Chingiz Babayev
(US and Azerbaijan)

"The Freedom Well"
an oil well in Harvard Square
http://www.artandtechnology.net/freedom

The Freedom Well, a collaborative proposal by American artist Caroline Anderson and Azerbaijani artist Chingiz Babayev, is meant to promote conversation about our worldwide addiction to oil. By erecting this well in Harvard Square, the artists propose do their part to abate the oil crisis; at the same time they present a piece of monumental architecture appropriate to the cultural, economic and political priorities common to both of our cultures. The cell phone transmitter, the red-white-and-blue color scheme, and the community group "In My Backyard" constitute a marketing concept aimed to normalize an otherwise abnormal situation. The web site for the freedom well is found at www.artandtechnology.net/freedom. On the site you will find more information about the project, the artists, urban oil wells in the US, and the oil Baku-Tiblisi-Jehan pipeline. Visit their blog at www.freedomwell.blogspot.com.