I was looking for something else when I came across this painting by Roberto Matta and it made
me laugh out loud. Some, maybe most, laughter has to do with other things. The painting is far from funny. I’ve always found it somewhat sinister. The laugh came from recognition. It has such a similar feeling to a drawing I just finshed about all the bureaucracies I’ve been struggling with recently. The laughter of recognition is spontaneous and relates to present emotions. Norman Cousins wrote extensively about the importance of laughter to health. Besides the physical health is the improved mental health and sense of connection, the “I get it” effect.
Images prompt associations from our own past experience that shared similar places or moods. Different times in life have different emotional weather. Art builds awareness of these shifts in mood and underscores the most significant aspect of the feeling. We may think we are looking for our favorite paintings, but the eye wants to stop at what is most balancing to the moment. Perception has its own priorities. It stimulates related thoughts and, helps integrate the different pieces of our subjective life as a whole. The overall sense of the painting is an opportunity to think about how a painting we are drawn to balances us in some way. Laughing at the Matta painting signified its relevance to my state right then. Unlike my difficulties with automated systems, the sense of ill-will and impending torment in the image seemed to express malign intent. The intent was different but the similarities were in the sense of dread. Where we gravitate changes with how we feel, and the Matta painting connected to emotions I was trying to express in my own drawing.
This propensity for pre-conscious visual choices can be developed consciously.
Whatever we are involved with is led by visual choices. Perception has the background understanding of the entirety of our circumstances to focus attention where it’s needed. How to make use of this was recently brought out on the public radio program “Hidden Brain”. On an episode called “You 2.0- The Mind’s Eye”. Emily Balcetis discusses her work on the importance of our visual system and how to use it to improve performance. Her book “Clearer, Closer, Better”, looks at the relationship between conscious use of visual focus and success. With a technique she called “materializing” she adapts visual techniques that top athletes have been using for years to focus visual attention for other purposes.
Likewise, emotional balance will seek out the imagery that reflects what’s significant for us at the time. The choices made when looking at art builds self-understanding. Because the feelings are shared with the artist, there’s consolation and acceptance of the difficult feelings that are part of being human.
