When you appreciate a work of art, be it a work of literature, paint, film, pen, music or anything else creative, your brain goes through physical changes.
This is a bit of a trope, at this point. Many apps, courses or organizations claim that their puzzles or programs create measurable changes in the brain - as if that lends it any credibility whatsoever. Let's cut through the mirage of miracle right now - everything changes the brain. That's how the brain works. There's nothing inherently meaningful about something that changes the brain. Thinking about what to eat for dinner changes the brain.
Why then, do I find the brain changes when consuming art, interesting?
Brains empathise with other brains through the use of mirror neurons, among other techniques. Empathy is literally taking on part of the structure of another person's brain. By doing this, you aren't just intelectually understanding what they might be saying, you are actually feeling what they are feeling, thanks to the synchronisation of your brain states. In that moment, you understand the other person because you have partly become that other person.
This is a fairly taxing event that cant be replicated indefinitely with everyone that we meet. Research has found that 100 seems to be the magic number of how many people we are able to really connect with at any point in our lives (although this number can vary quite greatly, and actually sits between 50-150 people). This is known as the Dunbar number.
When we connect with a piece of art - not just stimulation, but an emotional connection - our brain physically alters to take on part of the structure of the artist's brain, at the time of the art's creation.
Think about that for a second. The artist is conjured/reincarnated within us, when we connect with their art. Their thoughts and feelings are transported through time and space to take root in our living minds.
This is the power of art. It's hard to articulate, especially when others dont connect with something the same way that you do. It makes it hard to justify your enjoyment, and of course this is where subjectivity comes in. There's no automatically good or bad piece of art, it all depends on the interaction between the art and the observer. But we know that instinctively, anyway. That's not what's most interesting about art.
Summoning people from the dead to inhabit your body is the interesting part.
And what about the creator's side? I can only really speak for poetry, as that is predominantly what I read and write. When I read good poetry, I adopt a change of mood to fit the theme of the poem. If I write whilst in that state, I feel as if I'm chanelling that other poet. I write words that usually would not spring to mind, and I use unfamiliar structure. This isn't just me trying to write differently based on inspiration, this is my 'default mode' changing to a different standard - the standard of the other poet. If I wait a few days and then try to write in that other poet's style, I find it impossible. To do so requires more than an intellectual uderstanding of their word choice or structure, but I need to feel the way the other poet felt, at the time of writing.
You could say that poems, for me, are like little save states. They snapshot my life, and allow me to relive my past by reading my old words, not by reminding me of old thoughts, but by allowing me to temporarily become my old self.
The takeaway? Create stuff. Write, paint, conduct, build, do whatever you enjoy. When you do, you're doing more than just producing an object/product/thing. As long as it's something that you like, and that has come from you in an honest way, it is literally a part of you. You are giving people in the future the gift of a new perspective. People can step into your shoes for a time, and use this new perspective to develop new ideas of their own, grow emotionally, and become a more well-rounded human being.When you create something, you are imbuing an object with your brain state, to be passed around and reincarnated, pondered, adored, feared, loved, despised, probed, influenced by and reflected upon, by anyone who takes the time to look.
- Aluca Sol 