We are accustomed to consider books, films, going to an exhibition or concert as a guaranteed and quite affordable source of pleasure. But why then do we so often feel frustrated or even bored? Psychoanalyst Elena Spirkina reflects on this.
Psychologies: Why is it difficult for many of us to enjoy art today?
Elena Spirkina: Is the purpose of art to give pleasure? When it seeks only to entertain us at leisure, it degenerates, becomes commercial, no longer arouses deep feelings in us. And therefore, just unable to bring pleasure. Although there are, of course, rare examples of a combination of genuine, deep and commercial. Picasso, it seems to me, surprisingly combined shocking, and the desire to earn money, and real creativity. And yet art exists not only to please us.
What then is his task?
E. S .: Make us better. Change, transform, develop. But this process is not always easy. In addition, art is one of the tools for understanding the world and ourselves. By the way, this may be one of the reasons why it is becoming less and less joyful. The XNUMXth century has brought us more suffering than ever before. Moreover, mass suffering, which gave rise to too much psychological trauma and, as a result, mental pathologies. The possibility of a realm of absolute evil suddenly turned out to be menacingly tangible and close, and artists feel this especially keenly.
You analyze the art of the last decades from the point of view of psychoanalysis. What do you see?
E. S .: When it comes to portraying evil, even such dark films as Bernardo Bertolucci’s “Last Tango in Paris” or Volker Schlöndorff’s “The Tin Drum” show that cruelty, perverse behavior are the result of pathological changes in the psyche. For me, this is very important: to prove that evil is pathology. Put it in some framework, trace its origins and better understand how to resist it.
Read more:
- Pablo Picasso: “If there is a beard, it is Saint Joseph, if there is no beard, it is the Virgin Mary”
But can we enjoy such works?
E. S .: We can, although it is not obvious. Art, even gloomy, can be beneficial. Aristotle said that drama causes catharsis. If we correlate this concept with psychoanalytic theory, catharsis is possible due to identification with the heroes of the work. Heroes go their own way of development – personal, moral. They are faced with a choice of what to do, what to give up. And by identifying ourselves with them, we get the opportunity to experience what we are not always destined to experience in our own lives. After all, we all carry unconscious, repressed suffering. Often we prefer to build a kind of wall inside ourselves to isolate ourselves from them. Accordingly, part of our psychic energy is spent on keeping all these experiences inside. And then, according to the theory Freud, in life, in relationships, in creativity, too little mental energy is invested. The person becomes dull, cold, gray. So, art often gives us the opportunity to experience what we are not fully aware of. It helps to get in touch, including with your problems, difficulties, to know yourself better. And this is beneficial. A very striking example is the picture of the French director Robert Bresson “Random, Balthazar”. This is a film about the life of a donkey. A donkey is born, which they love very much, children pamper him, caress him. But gradually it grows and passes from hand to hand. They sell him, lose at cards, exhaust him with overwork, beat him, he suffers from hunger and cold. An unrequited being is not even capable of expressing its torment. It all ends up being stolen by smugglers who fall into a police ambush. The smugglers flee, the donkey is left alone and dies from bullets. Before dying, he screams, but no one comes to the rescue. A shepherd leads a flock of sheep. They surround the dying man, look indifferently, and then go their own way. I don’t know a single person who didn’t cry over this movie. There is no happy ending, not even hope. But this film makes you deeply empathize, making it a little better and cleaner for those who watch it. Therefore, yes – even gloomy art can be enjoyed, although it requires effort. And avoiding serious things in art can be a sign of depression, especially latent. In this state, a person is unable, for example, to read or re-read good but tragic books. Because he simply cannot afford to experience the feelings that arise at the same time. Own suffering, which has not yet been experienced and comprehended, does not allow any other people’s experiences inside a person.
“Touching” is the key word., which contains everything that happens to us when we stand in front of a work of art … Probably, we are infected with these feelings from the artist, from his mood while working on this work, writes psychoanalyst Tilmann Moser in the book “Art and Psyche” (Tilmann Moser)*. “Usually, when looking at a picture, the viewer perceives the mood that it radiates within seconds. At the same time, consciousness does not turn on yet … This mood acts so strongly that sometimes it is not possible to quickly get rid of it. Then the viewer connects the mind, education with their inherent meaningful and formal categories for a more conscious perception of the image. Only this rational detachment, which can be expressed both in surprise, delight, and in anxiety and spiritual disgust, allows you to get a complete picture of the work. If we truly open ourselves to some work of the artist, he leads us to a meeting with ourselves. What he boldly articulated opens the way for us to experience ourselves, to understand the secret conflicts that drive us…”
* T. Moser «Art and Psyche. Images as mirrors of the soul” (Belser, 2010).
One often hears that art has become very complex, “abstruse”. Can we really like these things?
E. S .: It seems to me that complaints about the complexity of art are partly echoes of our not so distant past, when the cook was supposed to run the state. Then it was understood that any book, picture or symphony should certainly be understood by everyone. And the habit of such simplicity has taken root. A work of art has the right to be complex. Sometimes the author is not able to express his ideas easier. Or complexity is used as a deliberate device (for example, in “Ulysses” by James Joyce). In addition, some experts believe that art in general tends to become more complex, and from time to time this trend intensifies. For example, in order to see all the details of the ornamentation of the lacquer vases of the Qing dynasty, they will have to be examined under a magnifying glass, if not under a microscope. Why did the creator of the vase need this, if he knew for sure that the ordinary eye simply would not see and appreciate the pattern? Perhaps we live in a period when art has entered the stage of such complication.
And how to understand modern sculpture, installations and performances? Even if they are concise, it is not always possible to understand them. What’s more, enjoy…
E. S .: In visual art, other mechanisms of pleasure operate: the laws of visual perception, ideas about the beauty of forms, harmony, aesthetics, completeness of composition. Although, if we take, for example, Rembrandt, then his art is still psychological. His portraits of old people reveal a huge world. On these faces – the life lived, its passions, the need to part with them and come to terms with the inevitable ending. They give us the opportunity to touch the life of another person, its outcome, greatness and impotence. Contemporary art, in my opinion, no longer appeals to the soul and not to the emotions of a person, but exclusively to his intellect. Such art tries to convey some idea, but does not provide the opportunity for empathy. And if we are presented with a toilet bowl on a pedestal, covered with a gilded cape, explaining that this is art, then I think that we have the right to doubt it. Perhaps this is an attempt to show us the meaninglessness of the world as the author sees it. It is likely that the author considers our whole life to be such a toilet and even sincerely worries about this. But he appeals only to the mind of his audience, not at all touching on feelings. And such art does not touch many people, leaves them indifferent …
Once I … Went to the theater with my mother
Dmitry, 18 years old, student
“Mom had an extra ticket to the theater, and she called me with her. I agreed without hesitation, although I planned to spend the evening in our student company. Perhaps my decision will surprise someone, but I would hardly have missed the opportunity to be with my mother another time. My mother is a very easy person, she understands everything perfectly, so there are things that I can only discuss with her. In the morning we all scatter on business, and after that we don’t have enough time or energy for anything. That is why an evening together is a unique chance to talk, clarify some important issues, ask for advice. That time we had a great time: we sat in a cafe, watched a play, and returning home, walked around the dying city … And once again I realized what happiness it is to talk with my mother, to be just together … Still, we need to arrange such events more often evenings when there is nowhere to rush, but you can just enjoy each other’s company.
Recorded by Julia Varshavskaya