An Ode to Art and Communication with the Self in Pandemic Times
We can state that, nowadays, most of our communication and attention is directed towards majorly known platforms such as social media, television, radio, among others. While it is true that these are extremely important means of providing society with useful information regarding various topics, be it of economic, political, or general interest, we must not forget that, especially in the midst of such a mentally exhaustive and overall damaging pandemic, being constantly bombarded with information of negative character has a drastic influence in our psychological well-being.
One can argue that providing more positive news as a means of outweighing such negativity might be a worthy approach, but without disregarding that idea, the truth is that we are humanly drawn to negatively toned news. Otherwise, the news would not be flooded with disastrous occurrences. Such a phenomenon could be explained by a theoretical effect named “negativity bias.” As naturally curious beings, we are compelled to unravel the mysteries that lie within such events. Our brains are prepared to react to threat, and controversial topics have always been of great interest to group conversations, in which, each one of us, emphatically participate with a (not so) unconscious sense of belonging to a shared dimension of pre-existing notions of a typical negative character. And, we are just further reconfirming said notions altogether.
On a positive note, one of the things we observed in the very beginning of the COVID-19 lockdown, especially in Mediterranean countries such as Portugal, Italy, and Spain, was the astonishing sense of unity and hope for a better future that people transmitted by singing, dancing, or praising Health Care professionals at their balconies in unison. It is wonderful to see that such a thing happened spontaneously! Nonetheless, it was, unfortunately, a short-term phenomenon compared to the still enduring pandemic. Why so? Is it because we are slowly, yet with a high degree of uncertainty, easing down the lockdown measurements, or because we are gradually losing patience and optimism? Answering such a question is not easy, it requires one to have in-depth knowledge within the domain of Behavioural Sciences.
So, in a myriad of possible paths, how can we use communication to help us preserve our emotional and complex nature?
There is a pattern which we can observe in the above-mentioned topics surrounding the “negativity bias” effect and the collective search for social activities under tough constraints — The ever-enduring quest for participation and belonging.
What can we extract from the idea of Participation and Belonging? After all, Communication is no more, no less, than an act of participation by itself and it can happen in several ways, some of which resorting to artistic means such as music and painting. We can create, appreciate what has been already created, or do both. Whichever approach we might select, within the artistic spectrum, we are participating in an activity that is inherent to the potential of human expression. We are using the power of our abstraction to either find meaning or to create it and that is of extreme value — to develop a better understanding of what we are feeling, especially during a historical period filled with uncertainty and where our identity is being questioned by ourselves.
That is why Art is so important, because it is a form of participating in something greater to which every one of us belongs to, and we have clear examples of artistic representation that manifest a set of social phenomena that marked our various historical periods. Be it by fully and audaciously exhibiting the grief and sorrow of difficult times, as we can see, for instance, in Guernica, by Pablo Picasso, where the Painter gives expression to the Spanish folk by depicting the suffocating anxiety provoked by the Spanish Civil War. Or, by doing the opposite, with the theatrical use of excessive light effects and a wide palette of colours amid such a dark period that was the resurgence of the Black Plague in Venice, as we can see in Tintoretto’s masterpieces.
With the inevitable lockdowns that have been imposed since the beginning of the pandemic, and with the, not so desired, likelihood of future lockdowns, it has been important to reinvent new forms of accessing culture, as its potential to unlock the constraints we have been putting to our subjectiveness is immeasurable.
As such, we invite you to embark on a daring adventure, in contrast to the one that we are currently enduring, by listening to the beautifully composed, exuberantly energetic, and triumphant Symphony №41 in C Major, K.551, by Mozart or by losing yourself on a virtual expedition in the striking Museum of Applied Arts (MAK) in Vienna, Austria, in the quest for the comforting, and much needed, “The Embrace” under the Tree of Life, by Gustav Klimt.
Let us not confine the beauty of our emotional nature, when we have other means of expression that are as important as socializing with our peers, because, after all, Art is a form of establishing communication with the deepest intimacy of the Self and we must not forget the importance of letting it resound with our inner voice.
References:
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20140728-why-is-all-the-news-bad
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negativity_bias
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/03/coronavirus-music-covid-19-community/
