Free Stamp (cont.)

In 1982, artists Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen were commissioned by Standard Oil Company of Ohio to create a piece of outdoor art to enhance its company’s headquarters at 200 Public Square.

The artists chose the word “FREE” in an effort to create a contemporary take on the concept of liberty, which was juxtaposed with a more traditional take on that same ideal at the nearby Soldiers & Sailors Monument (dedicated to the veterans of the Civil War). However, the word “FREE” was to be placed upside down – in an attempt, perhaps, to make a statement to the oil-company big wigs looking down from their skyscraper offices.