Why We Need Art Now

The experience reminded me why Art is so important, especially right now in this time of heightened instability and fear. I felt a similar recognition of the restorative power of art when I saw this protest dance video, and again when I saw my brother's latest work. 

 

Some say, "The world is on fire, there is no time for art." I believe the opposite is true - we need it precisely because the world is on fire.

 

Here are some of the reasons Art is so healing, individually and communally:

 

1) Art helps us digest our emotions. In the play, there was one anguished song that brought a sob into my chest. The powerful storytelling called up my own heartbreak and put it on the table for me to process a little more in real time. Life is so full, we don't always get the time to process the events that happen to us, so when a story or a poem evokes something so precise from our own past,  we have an opportunity to reflect and live into the emotions again, processing the experience a bit more. We need these "digetive" aids.

 

2) Art makes us feel seen, connects us, and dignifies our own experiences. When we see someone's life acted out on the stage in front of us, or in marks on a canvas, and we see ourselves in their story, it acknowledges what we ourselves have been through. We are validated, and it raises our personal struggle or celebration to that of a human experience, not ours alone to hold. 

 

3) Art creates compassion in us. In effective art, we get escorted into the inner lives of characters that we may not at first think we have much in common with. And by the end, we may discover that we have the same emotions, the same motivations, that "they" do. This dissolution of the "other" is so critical to humanity, and it has been the power of art since humans evolved. Sometimes a character that appears "bad" ends up revealing inner workings that explain why their seemingly senseless actions have motivation we can actually understand and our judgment falls away. 

 

4) Art produces wonder and awe, uplifting our spirit. In the musical, there was a point in one song when the character (a woman wronged) sang such an impassioned, powerful sustained note that hung in the air for so long, by the time it ended half of the audience was yelling with her or crying. The beauty of the note, and the power and emotion she put into it, was so shocking, it felt like a wave rose and crashed over my mind, leaving nothing left to focus on but the beauty of that moment and the thrill of being present for it. 

 

We don't gape in wonder often enough. Art takes us out of our normal mundane existence, our myopic tunnel-vision focused on our own small frame, and elevates our focus to something universal and, if we're lucky, something extraordinary. We gain perspective, and we expand. The energy of the crowd leaving the theater that night was joyous, humane, and connected in the trials and celebrations of Life itself. 

 

We need Art for so many reasons. What are your reasons? What Art has moved you recently?