Creativity is often thought of as a quality that must exist for its own sake, but research shows that it serves as a foundation of our social interactions. Creativity allows people to vividly imagine even the things that are far removed from their lived experience, such as what life will be like in 100 years, or what is going on in the mind of a famous person they have never met [3]. This ability to mentally travel away from the present reality could be key to understanding our own thoughts and feelings as well as understanding the thoughts and feelings of other people. When we are trying to predict how a friend will react to a piece of bad news, we may attempt to simulate how they are feeling now and come up with many possible reactions to the news, allowing us to present it in the most tactful way. In this manner, creativity can be useful in social situations to figure out what another person may be thinking or feeling, allowing for more empathy [4].

Looking at a piece of art could elicit a similar creative process. Much like a friend’s facial expression or body language, although much more ambiguous, art expresses emotions and thoughts. When looking at a work of art, you need to move beyond the here-and-now, possibly even across different cultural or historical contexts, to understand what it is expressing. This process engages your creativity. The more creatively you think about this, the more possible interpretations you can come up with, making it more likely that you will find one that resonates with you. The more creatively you think, the easier it will be for you to understand and discuss the interpretations of others who look at the same work. Creativity not only drives artists to create but also helps consumers to experience and appreciate art. The artist’s creativity may have helped create the artwork hanging on the wall in a museum or in your home, but your own creativity helps create that sense of connection you feel with the artist.

References:

Kaufman, J. C., & Beghetto, R. A. (2009). Beyond big and little: The four c model of creativity. Review of general psychology, 13(1), 1-12.
Weber, H., Loureiro de Assunção, V., Martin, C., Westmeyer, H., & Geisler, F. C. (2014). Reappraisal inventiveness: The ability to create different reappraisals of critical situations. Cognition & emotion, 28(2), 345-360.
Meyer, M. L., Hershfield, H. E., Waytz, A. G., Mildner, J. N., & Tamir, D. I. (2019). Creative expertise is associated with transcending the here and now. Journal of personality and social psychology, 116(4), 483.
Mildner, J. N., & Tamir, D. I. (in preparation) Social creativity: Divergent thinking in social cognition.

CONSUMING ART IS A CREATIVE ACT

CONSUMING ART IS A CREATIVE ACT