Unsettling art and its psychological impact

This article focuses on the experience of unsettling art and its psychological impact. Although it is widely recognized that works of art can be highly unsettling and disturbing, there seem to be no studies revealing the psychological importance of such experiences. Through a selection of interviews conducted according to phenomenological principles, a few essential features of the unsettling art experience are identified. These features include a strong negative emotional response, feelings of attraction, and pictorial vividness. Furthermore, these experiences form memory traces that are powerful, persistent, and long-lasting. The present study shows that when experiencing an unpleasant emotional response to a work of art, the emotion is linked to the sensate form of the picture and thereby objectified, allowing contemplation of the existential importance of the experience. Furthermore, this study uncovers a possible relation between prior traumatic episodes and an intense emotional response to unsettling art, and it is suggested that experiences with unsettling works of art allow the individual to reconcile with their prior trauma