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Tolstoy, the Russian author famous for War and Peace and Anna Karenina, in 1897 wrote a book called What Is Art, in which he asserted that the activity of art is based on the fact that a man “receives through his sense of hearing or sight another man's expression of feeling.” The spectator, he said, must be “infected” by the artist’s “condition of the soul” and that “the stronger the infection, the better the art.”
Tolstoy’s definition of successful art is timeless. It’s been the same from cave drawings through Shakespeare, Maria Callas, Marlon Brando, and Nan Goldin. Visual artists, playwrights, singers, and actors understand it innately, and it’s why they create; to show the world their artistic creations and stir something inside their audiences. As an audience, we seek out art because we want this feeling that art gives us. Whether it’s a pop concert at the Hollywood Bowl or a concerto at Carnegie Hall, we want music that makes us happy and sad. We seek art exhibitions that provoke us, attend plays where we feel for the characters on stage, and even imagine ourselves on the larger-than-life movie screen.
There’s something else we pursue that Tolstoy was on to. He called it “shar[ing] the same common human nature.” We have all recognized that feeling. It’s the swell of camaraderie at the concert of a favorite singer or band when we sing along with other attendees or rise to our feet at the end of a great play. Art gives us that sense of connection to the people around us without regard for our differences.
Beyoncé's Renaissance World Tour drew 68,000 fans to Gillette Stadium in Boston this past August, where she and her dancers dazzled with more than 30 songs for almost three hours. It was a large-scale concert characterized not only by Queen Bey’s virtuosic vocals and electric moves, but also by stunning visual displays. Like fans worldwide, Boston fans on social media called the experience “Just. Perfect. Every damn time.” and an “Amazing show. Serving vocals, gratitude, fashion. Literally my favorite night this summer.”
Beyoncé's fans don’t just come for the show. They come for her. Most have grown up with Beyoncé and consider her a role model and icon. They respect her not only as a fierce musical talent but also as a proud feminist and civil rights activist. Emily Burke explained to Boston radio station WGBH Boston: “She’s been an iconic staple piece of my life for a very long time…I think for a lot of Black women, if you ask them what was one of their first Black female influences, it’s probably Beyoncé. She is a representation that despite the stereotypes and the prejudices on you, you are so capable.”
What’s more, fans like Emily come to be in the presence of fellow fans. Last July, thousands arrived early to be the first to get in when doors opened at L&N Stadium in Louisville. In an interview with Spectrum News 1 in Kentucky, Rebekah Craven said, “I’m really looking forward to the camaraderie and just the joy of being with other people who love dancing and having fun.” Fans feel camaraderie and connection; they feel that quality Tolstoy called “shar[ing] the same common human nature.” That instinctive and uniquely human need to connect by sharing experiences.
Just months before Beyoncé's sold-out Boston concert, Taylor Swift took her Eras tour to Gillette stadium as well. Her sold-out concert also provided pageantry but was dramatically different in other ways. In contrast to Beyoncé, the spirit of Taylor’s Gillette concert was—like all her concerts—more personal, human, and scaled.
While Beyoncé emerges as a figure fans worship, Swift is a master at fostering “parasocial relationships” among her loyal fanbase of “Swifties” (parasocial relationships are one-sided, typically with celebrities or even fictional characters). Thus, audience members feel intimate with Swift, even if they aren’t her “besties” “IRL.” Taylor famously cultivates this feeling among her fans by responding to their social media posts, leaving “easter eggs” in her (often seemingly personal) lyrics, asking her mother to choose fans to join her onstage, and doing kind deeds for individual followers. Her fans feel like they really “know” her.
Like Beyoncé's fans, Swifties feel the power of being in each other’s presence. After attending the Eras concert at Empower Field in Denver, Colorado, Eliana Wieder told the Bucket List Community Café: “The woman who was standing next to me at the concert laughed with me, cried with me, danced with me, and sang with me the whole night. I didn’t get her name or contact information, but I’ll always remember her as being a safe person to express myself and my feelings around during this incredible concert.”
Two different icons, two different ways to the heart.
One hundred and fifty miles away from Gillette Stadium at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) in North Adams, Massachusetts, the visual artist Joseph Grigely uses a different kind of sound to connect with his audience. Grigely is deaf, and in his work, he “watches the world with the sound turned off.” The exhibition In What Way Wham? White Noise And Other Works, 1996-2023, explores “mechanisms of communication and the seen rather than heard conversation.”
In White Noise (2023), the installation that anchors the exhibit, Grigely draws on the thousands of written notes he has used to communicate with people over the past thirty years. The phrase “white noise,” the catalog explains, “is used by audiologists to describe a noise that occupies a wide bandwidth of random frequencies. Grigely’s version provides a visual equivalent of that experience.” The immersive piece consists of two adjacent oval rooms—each nearly twenty-five feet across—in which the viewer is surrounded from floor to ceiling with thousands of handwritten scraps of paper chronicling three decades of conversational exchanges between the artist and his world. In the first room, there are paper scraps in monochromatic shades of white, and in the second, paper in bright colors. Paradoxically, in the silence of the gallery space, the noise of Grigely’s work fills the room; the voices from the notes sing, bounce, whisper, and shout. Many visitors sit side by side on a slim bench, silently taking in the intensity, while others observe the walls in groups, pointing at individual notes and commenting on their content. The rooms pulse with a cacophony of feelings, emotions, and ideas. It is an unexpected and powerful experience.
What does science tell us about how that process takes place? What is the biological process by which we are actually—in Tolstoy’s words—“infected” by the artist’s “condition of the soul?”
According to an article published by Pfizer, when we listen to or make music, we increase blood flow to the parts of our brain that create and control our emotions. MRIs show that our limbic system, which is involved in our memory and emotional responses, lights up when exposed to music. Additionally, listening to music we love triggers a release of dopamine to the brain, activating sensations of pleasure and well-being, according to a study published by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The large-scale brain network, referred to as the Default Mode Network (DMN), is best known for being active when a person is daydreaming or when the mind wanders. One study suggests that when we are moved by visual art, the Default Mode Network is also activated. In a study published by Frontiers in Neuroscience, researchers found that DMN activity suggested that “certain artworks, albeit unfamiliar, may be so well-matched to an individual's unique makeup that they obtain access to the neural substrates concerned with the self.” Their findings emphasize the “personal aspects of aesthetic experience;” and are consistent with the concept that taste in art is linked to a person’s sense of identity. Reminiscent of Beyoncé fan Emily Burke, what you love is who you are.
Theatre likewise moves us, and social psychology suggests that it stimulates feelings of empathy that support the common humanity Tolstoy spoke of. A 2021 study published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology asked whether attending a live play could have a measurable impact on empathy, and found that theatre is more than entertainment. It can lead to tangible increases in empathy and pro-social behavior. What’s more, in our recent blog post we touched upon the fact that theatregoers’ heartbeats synchronize and beat simultaneously during performances, creating bonds, even among strangers.
Brands and corporations aspire to achieve the emotional connection these artists—and countless others working in various mediums—establish with their audiences. They spend billions to create the feeling that Beyoncé, Swift, and Grigely viewers feel. They hire spokespeople to personalize affinity, passion, and love. But how many get there? Very few. Brands have stories, but most get trapped in a cycle of “sell vs. tell.”
There are stunning exceptions. Patagonia excels at connecting through experiences and stories. Likewise, Subaru, Nike, and Dove are masters of “tell vs. sell” because they know what artists understand intuitively. Audiences want sincerity; they want inspiration; they want a story.
Unlike the art we encounter in “real life,” a common criticism of corporate communications and events is that they are too often sterile and emotionally contrived. The strategies behind these are often executive-driven, resulting in business agendas wrapped in cotton candy rather than brand experiences that reflect the audience's shared values and emotional energy (and do they know their audiences the way Taylor Swift knows hers? Probably not). It’s no surprise that their events fall flat.
The question then remains: How can corporate communicators follow in the footsteps of great artists? What can a corporate brand create in the live expo and show space to effectively bring people into its inner life, build followers, and, subsequently, passion and devotion? Examples abound in advertising; how can we help brands infuse their non-advertising work with deep emotional connections the way art does?
Let us return for a moment to Tolstoy, whose definition of successful art was that it should arouse and transmit emotion. He went on to assert that the degree of infection depended on: “the individuality of the feeling transmitted,” “the clearness with which the feeling is transmitted,” and “the sincerity of the artist.” Perhaps helping brands connect with audiences like great artists goes back to these critical yet simple, seemingly obvious elements.
A partner can help a brand choose a unique idea, an expression rooted in truth, and convey it to an audience clearly and sincerely.
Begin with an Authentic Story. Tell, Don’t Sell. Know your Audience.
Like a spectator at Gillette stadium or MASS MoCA, an audience instantly sniffs out an inauthentic gesture. Don’t take them for granted or grow accustomed to a “show space” reality in which inauthenticity reigns. Accept nothing less than what you would accept from an artist who understands, consciously or intuitively, that great art stimulates our brains, our emotions, our hearts—and unites us with others. A brand’s opportunity to convey its “condition of the soul” to its audience is, likewise, priceless.
References
Mass MoCA. Joseph Grigely: In What Way Wham? (White Noise and Other Works, 1996-2023). North Adams, Massachusetts.
https://massmoca.org/event/joseph-grigely-in-what-way-wham-white-noise-and-other-works-1996-2023/
Bochicchio, Sarah. The Rothko Effect: Why Does Art Move Us? Phillips.
https://www.phillips.com/article/72737375/the-rothko-effect-why-does-art-move-us-twentieth-century-contemporary-art-london
Brinck, Ingar. Empathy, engagement, entrainment: the interaction dynamics of aesthetic experience. April 8, 2017. National Library of Medicine. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5976699/
Clark, Josh. Why Do Music and Art Move Us? April 11, 2023. HowStuffWorks.
https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/emotions/music-and-art-move-us1.htm
Curry, Stephanie. Art and empathy: Four thought leaders explain the connection. May 7, 2021. Minneapolis Institute of Art.
https://new.artsmia.org/stories/art-and-empathy-four-thought-leaders-explain-the-connection
Dakdouk, Julian. BeyHive swarms to Gillette Stadium for Beyonce’s Renaissance tour. August 18, 2023. WGBH.
https://www.wgbh.org/culture/2023-08-02/beyhive-swarms-to-gillette-stadium-for-beyonces-renaissance-tour
Dolan, Eric W. Listening to the music you love will make your brain release more dopamine, study finds. February 2, 2019. PsyPost. https://www.psypost.org/2019/02/listening-to-the-music-you-love-will-make-your-brain-release-more-dopamine-study-finds-53059
Dolan, Eric W. Live theatre can boost empathy and pro-social behavior, according to new research. July 25, 2021. PsyPost.
https://www.psypost.org/2021/07/live-theatre-can-boost-empathy-and-pro-social-behavior-according-to-new-research-61582
Fink, Jennifer L.W. Why – and How – Music Moves Us. Pfizer.
https://www.pfizer.com/news/articles/why_and_how_music_moves_us
Hackel, Leor, Rathje, Steve, Zaki, Jamil. Attending live theatre improves empathy, changes attitudes, and leads to pro-social behavior. July 2021. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology: Volume 95.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S002210312100038X
Lyle, London. Swifties “Shake it Off” At Empower Field. July 20, 2023. Bucket List Community Cafe.
https://bucketlistcommunitycafe.com/swifties-shake-it-off-at-empower-field/
Powell, Jacqulyn. Fans show up early for Beyonce ‘Renaissance’ tour in Louisville. July 17, 2023. Spectrum News 1. https://spectrumnews1.com/ky/louisville/news/2023/07/17/beyonce-renaissance-tour-louisville
Rubin, Nava, Starr, G. Gabrielle, Vessel, Edward A. Art reaches within: aesthetic experience, the self and the default mode network. December, 30, 2013. National Library of Medicine.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3874727/
Stamatopoulou, Despina. Empathy and the aesthetic: Why does art still move us? September 21, 2017. National Library of Medicine. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28936641/
Walsh, Colleen. The Aesthetic Attitude to Art. April 2, 2019. The Harvard Gazette.
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2019/04/harvard-researcher-on-psychology-of-art/
Zaborniak, Colette. The Science Behind Art: Why Does Art Play With Our Emotions? June 17, 2015. Mesa Arts Center.
https://mesaartscenter.com/index.php/blog/06-2015/the-science-behind-art-why-does-art-play-with-our-emotions
Zak, Paul J. Why We Cry at Movies. February 3, 2009. Psychology Today.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/the-moral-molecule/200902/why-we-cry-movies
