Disruption

World in a Face

Reflecting on Paul Ekman’s study of facial expressions, it occurred to me that there is an enormous amount of information we receive throughout the day that goes largely unrecognized. Since we recognize thousands of expressions its likely we notice a wide variety during an interaction with someone that accumulate into a sense of our overall impression of what their mood was that day. Then I wondered about the range of expressions a parent makes in reaction to their child. So much focus on behaviors is leaving out the background of smiles shifting to concern or irritation hidden by smiles. Ekman’s book details how we assemble a sense of the feeling with the unconscious perception of micro-expressions. After reading about this, I recorded a debate then watched it in slow motion and was astonished at what showed between the controlled expressions. To what degree are our insecurities seeded by the flow of reactions we see on a parent’s face? Facial expressions led me to some of my current passions. It was Bjorn Borg’s facial expression filling the screen that first sucked me into watching tennis, his look of intense almost predatory focus. What it took to be there showed in his face. To be so close to that moment with him felt nearer to holy than any other word that comes to mind. I’m always inspired by tennis. Resonating with that level of dedication strengthens my own. The danger comes when we try to label facial expression. Our own confidence or insecurities often misinterpret the look on someone’s face. When I first started teaching, I was very insecure and interpreted students’ expressions in a variety of negative ways. Then one lunch hour I walked through the student lounge area and saw a student whose look I’d interpreted badly, wearing the same look in a group of her friends. The look was not personal. She did look sad. I understood the feeling but not the meaning. Looking at art can help us fine tune our perceptions with universal feelings, the heart of being human. Art drawn from the depths of an artist sensitizes the viewer to their own depths, providing a safe space to reflect on what’s often hidden. A non-clinical way to unlock personal psychology, we gravitate toward what calls to us in that moment. Resonance with facial expressions is stimulating each viewer’s understanding of that feeling, no words involved. The last few times I’ve been in the Baltimore Museum of Art the African masks stirred something deep in me that had been available but neglected. In the room of eighteenth-century portraits, I gravitated toward the ones that showed a sensitive soul trapped in layers of privilege. The communication in a facial expression can cut through the superficial and show a meaning that isn’t said.