Imagine the saddest piece of literature, film, or music you’ve experienced. What made it sad? And, to what degree were you able to not make that sadness about yourself?
Think of a time when a person came to you and relayed a sad story. What made it sad? To what degree did you feel sad? To what degree did you see yourself in that story?
Cognitive psychology tells us that you are more likely to prefer the sadness experienced in art versus the non-art relayed by another person (excerpt of study below). The hypothesis, that appears supported in research, is that you are more likely to appropriate the art for yourself — making the experience about you and not about the artist.
“Existing research suggests that people show greater liking for expressions of sadness when those expressions are framed as works of art. The present studies investigated two possible explanations of this effect. One natural hypothesis is that the effect arises because people tend to see works of art as _fictional_; i.e., because when expressions of sadness are framed as works of art, they belong to a world removed from the real world, and therefore carry no practical implications. A second, very different hypothesis is that the effect arises because describing something as a work of art leads to greater _appropriation_, i.e., a greater tendency to experience it as an expression of one’s own emotions.” - Sad Art Gives Voice to Our Own Sadness. Authors: Tara Venkatesan, Mario Attie-Picker, George Newman, and Joshua Knobe
That research implies that great sad art is crafted in a way where it makes you the centerpiece — there’s little-to-no appropriation friction.
That idea of appropriation is like an idea I wrote about a few years ago.
When an audience responds, it means they felt something so powerful that they needed to express their feeling outward. This expression takes energy and vulnerability. Also, the audience will likely share the experience with friends; they want their friends to feel what they feel. When that happens, others will come to know about your work and want to see you. When that happens, you'll create an epidemic. You'll thrive.
That idea is not novel. It’s possible the knowledge upon which that idea is built is tacit knowledge. That said, it appears that sad art requires a response.
