Some Psychological Functions of Art
By André Ahanda Ekani. Published on August 27, 2024
It is difficult to observe the human Being and not notice that he is essentially psychological. This immutable nature, very often if not always intertwined with biological and social factors, continually shapes human activity. Artistic activity is no exception to this truth. The work of art, even when fulfilling all the other functions generally attributed to it (aesthetic, denunciatory, historical, cultural functions, etc.), always embraces an important psychological dimension, which unfortunately is often minimized or even overlooked. The objective of this article is to address this omission by highlighting the psychological functions of art. We define them as the set of mental processes that underlie artistic creation but also arise from it. These functions manifest both in the artist, the creator, and in the spectator, the one who contemplates the artwork. Aware of their plurality and the constraints guiding the writing of our work, we will focus on a few, namely sublimation, catharsis, self-affirmation, and social differentiation.
Sculpture: Yvon Ngassam, Masque_Le professeur de français, metal welding, 25x25x45 cm, 2018
Sublimation
Psychoanalysis, a branch of psychology, considers art as the social resolution of the unconscious—that is, the transformation of the unconscious into social forms that carry social meaning. This view is based on psychic processes, which are actually defense mechanisms¹. One of these processes is sublimation.
Sublimation is a defense mechanism that channels negative feelings or impulses by redirecting them toward socially acceptable behaviors, which can lead to social recognition. According to Freud’s theory of a child’s emotional development, the formation of the Superego (the psychic instance of social censorship) at the phallic stage leads to the suppression of libidinal impulses, forcing them to express themselves in other ways. In other words, this is how an individual learns sublimation.
Freud’s discourse on art emphasizes the concept of sublimation. He famously said:
"Art is an intermediate domain between reality, which frustrates desires, and the world of fantasy, which satisfies them (...). The artist is originally a man who turns away from reality (...). He then becomes what he wanted to be, without following the long and winding road of the real transformation of the external world."²
This means art is a wish fulfillment in the face of a reality that is too frustrating and lacking satisfaction. Thus, the mechanism of sublimation allows the artist—and even the observer—to satisfy repressed desires, not in their natural environment but in zones free from any moral or social complaint (such as science and art), areas where these desires are socially valued and accepted.
Ultimately, the sublimation mechanism enables the expression of initial impulses that may have potentially negative social consequences, generating positive creative activity that can lead to social recognition, or even reward. For example, the plot of a bestseller may be inspired by some frustration, just as a platinum record may stem from affliction. “When I am sad, that is when I write my best songs,” a musician we know personally once told me. Similarly, drawing quickly became for Dieudonné Assiga Ndono, a Cameroonian visual artist, a way to sublimate his childhood frustrations marked by the absence of siblings and the loss of his parents at the age of 10.
From the above, we can say that sublimation transforms frustrations to make them positive. Because of this, it could be confused with catharsis. However, this possibility is ruled out when we clarify the following: sublimation follows a principle of transformation, whereas catharsis follows the principle of transfer.
Catharsis
Aristotle (384–322 BC) described catharsis as the purification of passions, especially in the spectator of a dramatic performance. Aristotle made this notion the cornerstone of his conception of tragedy: the tragic function would consist in “purifying” harmful passions (fear, pity) through their enactment in representations of “virtuous and accomplished” acts³. In a theater, for example, catharsis involves the portrayal of a repressed act (forbidden by morality or even law), along with its punishment. It is this representation that disgusts the spectator with the passion, marks their disapproval of the act, and frees them from this “impure” passion.
Catharsis is the mechanism through which one externalizes lived traumas. Breuer and Freud developed it as a therapeutic method based on hypnosis. Catharsis allows the release of strong emotional charges that threaten the integrity of the Self.
Vygotsky was the first to perform a cathartic analysis of artistic creation. He focused his analysis on the form of the work, noting along with the Gestalt psychologists⁴ that when this form is destroyed, the aesthetic reaction is lost. The material of art consists of everything the artist finds ready-made (words, sounds, images…), while the form is the mode of presentation of the material aimed at creating an aesthetic reaction. Form is therefore both the artistic process and its result. However, form is not the ultimate goal of art. For Vygotsky, artistic activity finds its fulfillment in the expression of emotions and feelings. In other words, art is a social technique of feeling. It engages a part of the psyche that finds no outlet in everyday life: “Art provokes affects experienced in their reality but discharges their energy in imaginative activity” (Vygotsky, 1925).
We then understand that artistic activity is the exaltation of feeling and imagination, imagination being the central expression of the emotional reaction. It is as if the psychological tension generated by some traumatic affect in the psyche finds a path for release in imagination. It is this transfer that makes the catharsis process possible.
Through the cathartic link between the unconscious and the social in art, reality is produced by the subject (creator) rather than reflected. Art thus falls within what we can call a dynamic of frustration-imagination, which liberates the psyche and enables it to flourish and assert itself better.
Self-assertion and personal development
We must emphasize, at the risk of sounding trivial, that art is a work of the mind. As such, a work of art is a means by which an individual, the artist in this case, expresses their feelings, emotions, opinions, and convictions. Consequently, artistic activity leads to the flourishing of the individual, as it allows them to assert themselves as a thinking subject. Let us focus on Yvon Ngassam. He is a Cameroonian multimedia and intermedia artist who has made dehumanization a major theme of his work. For him, dehumanization is the act of stripping an individual or group of their human character, any form of generosity, any form of sensitivity. It is inherent in a number of prejudices and stereotypes. Through his photographs in particular, Yvon Ngassam captures his conception of this phenomenon. In this way, he exists. Through his works, he thinks. Through his works, he asserts himself.
But self-assertion carried by art is not only about expressing thoughts and feelings. In reality, the artist also and above all asserts themselves through their creative style. Whether painting, sculpture, music, photography, or literature, each artist constantly strives to differentiate themselves from their peers by adopting a particular style. And the similarities that may appear between different styles rarely overcome the creator’s desire to preserve their originality, identity, their Self. Thus, Van Gogh’s way of painting is distinct from Picasso’s. Furthermore, young artists identify with their elders. The latter are models for the younger generation, a source of inspiration that ultimately allows each one to develop the style that will become their own; especially since each person has their own history. A study by the Alternative Museum of Arts (AMA) reveals that Moustapha Baïdi Oumarou, a Cameroonian artist, although having found his style—the one by which he is currently known—was strongly influenced by Afro-American artists such as Kerry James Marshall and Kehinde Wiley.
All in all, self-assertion fosters personal development. It gives the artist the opportunity to become aware of their abilities, their autonomy and thus their capacity to create, to invent, in short to be an actor in the development of their community or country.
It is not incorrect to say that self-assertion conditions personal development. But self-assertion brings forth more than that. There is also social differentiation.
Social Differentiation
Social differentiation is a model for understanding social comparison, theorized in social psychology by Festinger in 1954.
The sense of autonomy achieved by the artist through personal development implies that he compares his opinions with those of others. As a result of this comparison, it often happens that the individual judges the views approved and valued by his belonging group as degrading. Once this judgment is made, the subject will strive to mark his detachment from the group: this is social differentiation.
Lemaine (1974) provides further details on social differentiation, having placed it at the center of his work. For him, reference to others, rather than leading to homogeneity, leads to heterogeneity:
"Reference to others leads to differentiation when it threatens identity and when the restoration of this identity occurs through the search for difference from the otherness, the creation, then the accentuation of heterogeneity."
This is the case of a child who, during a soccer match, refuses to play with the weak team. Anyone would be reluctant to join the losers’ group.
We conducted 30 interviews with 30 different artists, asking them how they perceived their works. Twenty-two participants revealed that art was a means for them to break away from the beaten path, to distinguish themselves from the rest of the group, when the beliefs, mindset, and behavior of that group undermine the subject’s prestige. Among these 22 participants is Fidji Winner, a young Cameroonian musician-artist. During our interview, he told us what his music represented for him:
"My music is my weapon, the sword I brandish to fight everything I dislike, everything that disgusts me, everything that outrages me and goes against my values and principles. My music is my katana, and I draw it with twice as much ardor and passion every time others seem to find no indignation in what undermines our humanity. I then draw what I consider my sword, my music, and I rebel! I say no! I am not like them. I am not like all the others."
As much as social differentiation can be likened to nonconformity, denunciation, or even a manifesto, it resolutely aims at restoring identity or preserving the Self. This preservation of identity will therefore be consecrated, or at least conveyed, by the artist’s artistic production.
1. Unconscious psychic processes aimed at reducing or eliminating the unpleasant effects of real or imagined dangers, by reshaping internal and/or external realities, whose manifestations (behaviors, ideas, or emotions) may be unconscious or conscious.
2. FREUD Sigmund, Malaise dans la civilisation, Bollati Basic books, 1985, p.201.
3. BLOCH Henriette et al., Grand dictionnaire de la psychologie, Larousse, Paris,1999, p.568.
4. Gestalt psychology is a psychological theory that highlights the elements of configuration and the primacy of the whole over the parts in the field of perception.
5. LEMAINE, 1974 ; cité par C. Désiré NOUMBISSIE, Le paysage théorique de la psychologie sociale depuis 1882 : entre pléonasme et disconvenance, Edition Cheikh Anta Diop, Douala, 2019, p.149.
Bibliography:
Under the direction of Juliet Hacking, Tout sur la photo: Panorama des chefs-d’œuvre et des techniques, Flammarion editions, 2012.
François Omam-Biyik, Mon But, SOPECAM edition, 2016.
https://lionindomptable.com/mondial-90-la-fiche-technique-du-match-argentine-cameroun/