The Arts As An Exercise In Humanity

How is it that we can view something that makes us feel deeply sad and enjoy it? When we watch a film or view an image of something that is truly saddening, how is it that we can walk away and proclaim it a great work? All it has done is make us miserable. Are we truly that masochistic a species? What is it about the arts that can cause us to enjoy states of being we would normally go to great lengths to avoid?

There are a number of answers to these questions, and many of them are equally true. We are multifaceted creatures with many simultaneous parallel, perpendicular, divergent and convergent drives. The drive to better ourselves is a strong current that runs in each of us, and it is one of the reasons we take in the arts.

Every day we see people putting forth great time and effort to strain their muscles and wear out their bodies in an attempt to better themselves physically, and mentally we are no different. We work through puzzles and riddles, solve equations and strive to understand difficult mathematical concepts in an effort to better our rational minds. We take in the arts in an attempt to better our non-rational minds, and often specifically to better our emotional, empathetic minds.

As we look at art through the ages we can move from symbols to symbolism to specific representation of physical aspects. Here are the animals, this is our leader, this is our history. Along with the specific images there was an understanding, and as time progressed art became less and less about documentation and more about understanding. When we entered the age of modernism the shift became dramatic as photography took up the documentary duties.

Now as we look back through the past 100 years we can see a very linear path from surrealism/cubism into abstract expressionism and forward. As we continued to exercise our empathic abilities, our methods of non-rational understanding, we continued to make art that was more and more challenging.

Consider how difficult it would be for someone born 200 years ago to enjoy the works of Pollock or Rothko. Would they have the emotional ability to relate to something so completely abstract? I doubt it, and I doubt it’s a coincidence that someone from 200 years ago would be more prone to violence.

As we have progressed as a species, we have become less and less violent. Today violence is often considered a last resort, and there is value seen in kindness. The arts have played a significant role in this by allowing us to exercise our empathy and our ability to understand.

If we can relate to a series of rectangles on a flat surface, how much easier must it be to relate to another human being? When we have empathy for another person we build understanding and abandon violence. There is no reason to hurt someone when we feel the pain that we inflict.