Fear heightens the sublime appreciation of abstract art.
A newly published study by Kendall Eskine, a research psychologist at Loyola University finds people are more likely to be moved and intrigued by abstract paintings if they are scared first.
This suggests the allure of art may be a byproduct of one’s tendency to be alarmed by such environmental features as novelty, ambiguity, and the fantastic, he argues.
The researchers postulate that since fear is an emotional mechanism that increases survival chances by motivating fight, flight, or freezing responses to threatening situations, it seizes one’s attention, halts current plans, and increases vigilance.
Participants viewing abstract art after watching a brief frightening video rated their reactions on a scale created to measure the sublime experience much higher than control subjects.
Read factlets by:
RSS feed
Email feed
