Sublime & Ridiculous is a company born out of a desire to communicate the incommunicable. Inspired storytelling and innovative technology allows participants to be led astray by their own senses.
We collaborate with a diverse range of artists, organisations and members of the general public, creating interactive theatre in both conventional and unconventional forms and spaces.
We are particularly fascinated by the rich and intriguing intersection that exists between art and science, and presenting work that inspires empathy and understanding across cultural and social boundaries.
Perhaps not surprisingly, there’s research demonstrating that people are more likely to donate when they feel empathy for the recipient. This research builds upon the classic psychology research demonstrating that empathy increases the likelihood of altruism, especially when there are costs to being altruistic.
It’s clear that empathy can play an important role in motivating people to give altruistically, but how can we build empathy especially for others who are not very similar to ourselves?
One useful way to build empathy in marketing materials is to create stories that allow people to connect to those who need help or to those who are helping. The idea that organizations should be engaging in storytelling to engage and attract stake holders has been recently promoted. Stories are most powerful when people are able to lose themselves in a character. This is why reading or seeing a story from the first person perspective can be so powerful.
Readers of fiction are required to dive into a world of many characters, and their enjoyment hinges, in part, on an ability to embody these imaginary figures – particularly the lead character.
A 2013 study published in Science found that fiction readers had better than average scores on measures of “theory of mind” – the ability to distinguish between the thoughts and feelings of oneself and others. Essentially, they were more able to recognize the views and feelings of other people as separate to their own.
This is linked to one’s capacity to empathize with other people and understand their joy, anxiety, please, and pain.
A reader is more likely to be able to step into your shoes, understand your story, and relate to your emotions.
The arts are increasingly acknowledged as a key force in developing the capacity for human connection.
The role of art is often seen as something that must disturb and provoke but the arts also have a much gentler role: the evoking of empathy.
In a society where the need for human connection is challenged by computerisation and technological mediation, empathy is increasingly valued as a major aspect of emotional intelligence.
But can something as simple as watching movies — and empathizing with fictional characters — help generate more compassion and understanding in the real world?
Roger Ebert thought so. “The purpose of civilization and growth is to be able to reach out and empathize a little bit with other people,” said Ebert in "Life Itself," a 2014 documentary about late film critic’s life and career. “And for me, the movies are like a machine that generates empathy. It lets you understand a little bit more about different hopes, aspirations, dreams and fears.”
Science supports Ebert’s theory. Dr. Jim Coan, associate professor of clinical psychology and director of the Virginia Affective Neuroscience Laboratory at the University of Virginia, says Ebert was right. We “immerse ourselves in the perspective of another person,” Coan said. “And in doing that, we start to subtly accrue those perspectives into our own universe ... and that’s how empathy is generated.”
One of the best things about reading realistic fiction is that you don’t have to always experience something to experience it.
In other words, you can experience poverty, death, heartbreak, loneliness through the characters. In fact, it creates empathy to have experienced these things in literature. It creates compassion.
“A great book should leave you with many experiences, and slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading.” – William Styron
The powers of creative writing to build empathy will come into focus in October when a Columbia University scholar and novelist visits Western Michigan University as part of the University Center for the Humanities 2015-16 Speaker Series: Reimagining Community.
Nellie Hermann, creative director of the Program in Narrative Medicine at Columbia, will speak at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 8, in 2452 Knauss Hall. Her presentation, titled "Creative Writing and the Capacity for Empathy," is free and open to the public.
“Empathy” entered the English language via aesthetics and psychology in the late 19th century. Today, empathy is discussed not only in the arts and humanities, but also in Silicon Valley, Stanford’s d.school, and the latest neuroscience.
We share a deep need to walk in the shoes of another. This exhibition traces the meaning and practice of empathy through artistic representations of Buddhist compassion; Christianity’s commandment to love our neighbor; Enlightenment moral philosophy; and Civil Rights-era photography
. It accompanies the “Thinking Matters” course taught by Jane Shaw, professor of religious studies. Approximately 18 works on display. IMAGE: Hieronymus Bosch (the Netherlands, c. 1450–1516), Last Judgment, c. 1510. Oil on panel. Lent by Kirk Edward Long
At a panel hosted by Chaz Ebert, journalists and film industry members shared their thoughts on empathy.
In a room known as the Roger Ebert Conference Center, the American Pavilion at Cannes hosted a panel this afternoon inspired by one of Ebert's most well known statements—that "movies are a machine that generates empathy."
In her introductory remarks, Chaz Ebert noted that when someone begins to talk about empathy, "people think that it's like forcing you to eat broccoli."
But she sees empathy as a more hopeful concept, and noted why empathy is important. "A lot of the ideas that people have, you get from the cinema," she said.
Some of the panelists suggested that empathizing starts with the filmmakers themselves
We may walk away such experiences with heavy hearts, but that’s a small price to pay for empathy. In a world dominated by sound bites, spin and winner-take-all, it’s that vital human connection that sets us apart as a civilized society.
New York-based French artist Antoine Catala claims that "recent studies show that young people communicate more through a screen than face to face" and that "we become overwhelmed and our capacity for empathy gets challenged."
For the exhibition Antoine Catala: Distant Feel, at the Carnegie Museum of Art, Catala has "rebranded" empathy. He posits that empathy is evolving and he seems earnest enough, explaining that he worked with ad agency Droga5 to create a new term and symbol, and to "craft a message to change the world." "Distant feel" is described as "a cool, detached, focused form of empathy," expressible "through the distance of an image."
Seeking a shelter buried deep within Dry and warm where peace you'll find...
Empathy is a special quality, giving a compassionate ear to others is important but it is also important to be compassionate with ourselves. At times retreat makes us stronger.
Edinburgh Festival of Empathy will take place 12th-25th June celebrating the role of empathy in community and offers a variety of ways of exploring what empathy means and experiencing giving and receiving empathy.
We think Art is a very powerful medium for evoking empathy and that experiences of empathy can produce powerful art. We would like to show this to the public as part of the festival and invite your submissions.
New research from neuroscientists at Stanford University suggests that a child’s empathy can be linked to her or his math skills. When young children — aged 7 to 12 — ranked higher on a questionnaire that evaluated their empathetic dispositions, they fared worse at math problems like subtraction, multiplication, or geometry.
The researchers don’t know the exactly why this is — but they say it could corroborate earlier studies of female students who reflect their teacher’s own math anxieties, which in turn can propagate negative stereotypes aboutwomen and math....
The scientists also gave a quiz to the kids’ parents, asking them to evaluate not just their offspring’s empathy but also their levels of “systemizing” — how analytical the children were. “Surprisingly, children with higher empathy demonstrated lower calculation skills,” the researchers wrote in the journal Scientific Reports .
The mural project, which will be unveiled on Saturday, Jan. 30, as part of Mass MoCA's annual "Free Day," hangs in the "Walk in My Shoes" exhibition.
The show represents the first year of a four-year federally funded arts education initiative partnering northern Berkshire schools with the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, with additional support from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
This first-year exhibit features the theme of "empathy," with artwork by Jamie Diamond, Jesse Fleming, and Aaron Johnson. Forthcoming exhibits will relate to themes of optimism and courage.
Provided to YouTube by Believe SAS Empathy (Full Version) · Silvio Piersanti Empathy ℗ Opensound Music Released on: 2015-04-11 Author: Silvio Piersanti Compo...
Empathy is focusing on the needs of the other person Maintaining sensitivity for the good of all Passion to help in a non judgemental way Attitude of comforting with heartfelt love Trusting in the obligation you perceive while listening Yielding with dignity and respect for self and others
Listening is an attitude of the heart, a genuine desire to be with another which both attracts and heals?
One of the first pieces of advice given to me when I started writing and looking for feedback on it involved building a sense of empathy between the reader and the character.
By empathy, I don’t mean making the reader feel sorry for them—I mean making them care about what happens to that character. Depending on the individual reader, the amount of time they allow an author to get to that point varies. Some people might put down a book if they feel ‘meh’ about the main character on page one. Some might give it ten, twenty, maybe even forty pages if they’re generous...
The sooner you have the reader’s attention, and empathy with the character, the better. When the reader invests, and cares what happens to the character, you’re doing it right.
“Empathy” entered the English language via aesthetics and psychology in the late 19th century. Today, empathy is discussed not only in the arts and humanities, but also in Silicon Valley, Stanford’s d.school, and the latest neuroscience.
We share a deep need to walk in the shoes of another. This exhibition traces the meaning and practice of empathy through artistic representations of Buddhist compassion; Christianity’s commandment to love our neighbor; Enlightenment moral philosophy; and Civil Rights-era photography.
It accompanies the “Thinking Matters” course taught by Jane Shaw, professor of religious studies. Approximately 18 works on display. IMAGE: Hieronymus Bosch (the Netherlands, c. 1450–1516), Last Judgment, c. 1510. Oil on panel. Lent by Kirk Edward Lon
And I know for certain that when I look into another human being, whether they have eyes to see or not, I can behold them.
I can view the hurt in them and feel the wounds in me. It is a pain that agonizes quietly inside as we share it… So I reach out to comfort them. These are the opportunities to extend and touch another soul with all that is in me now.
Research scientist Michael Grybko — of the Department of Psychology at the University of Washington — returned to the show to help me define empathy from a scientific standpoint.
In this file Michael Grybko and I discuss:
How Science is Changing Our Definition of Empathy
Why Pathos is a Good Jumping Off Place for Writers
What Actors and Doctors Have in Common with Writers
Are Mirror Systems the Key to Human Empathy?
How to Resist the Dark Side of Empathy
The Difference Between Good Storytelling and Great Storytelling
Why Writers Need to Crawl Inside the Heads of Their Audience
How Marketers Tap into Well-Worn Paths in Our Brains
The Key to Empathizing with Your Readers
Why Great Marketing Starts with the Desire to Help People
Roger Ebert’s oft-quoted line about how movies are “a machine that generates empathy” will be the topic of a panel discussion at the Cannes Film Festival. “What Does Empathy Look Like On the Big Screen?” will be held at 3pm Sunday, May 17th at the American Pavilion.
Nate Kohn, Vice President of the Peabody Awards and Festival Director of Ebertfest, will serve as the moderator. Fittingly, the panel will be held in the Roger Ebert Conference Room of the Pavilion.
Chaz Ebert, President of The Ebert Company and Publisher of RogerEbert.com will welcome panelists John Sloss of Cinetic Media; Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director of the Toronto International Film Festival, and Anne Thompson of Indiewire and Thompson on Hollywood for a free-wheeling conversation about why empathy should be encouraged in the works of emerging writers on film and filmmakers.
Chaz says, "Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. It is the antidote to the feelings of isolation and insecurity which can result in all kinds of ills in our society. Not only is it good for the bottom line (audiences hunger for films with characters they can relate to, and with themes that touch on hope rather than mere despair and destruction), but it can lead to a change in the conversations about our future."
Stephanie Seguino's exhibition of large-scale color photographs, on view at the Flynndog in Burlington, would be visually powerful even if it weren't so painfully relevant. For "Radical Empathy," she has used her camera like a pickax: to chip away at white Americans' stereotypes of black men. And she has undertaken that task at a time when hostile and fear-laden preconceptions have repeatedly proved lethal — most recently in Baltimore, Md., and before that in Cleveland, Ohio; Ferguson, Mo.; Staten Island, N.Y.; and North Charleston, S.C.
The contrast between summary judgments and actual character forms the core of "Radical Empathy." The title is meant as an appeal for understanding of black men's lives, Seguino says. Achieving such awareness amounts to a radical act, she adds, in that "empathy toward black men is the exception, not the norm."
During this week, 100 years after the birth of Elizabeth Catlett on April 15, 1915, we are reminded of her empathetic spirit, in addition to her monumental body of art and her association with Hampton University. And we are imagining what the example of her selfless spirit implies for contemporary styles of art.
Catlett empathized particularly with oppressed and struggling people and wanted her art to be a healing, motivating and empowering experience for them....
Elizabeth Catlett's empathetic mastery prompts us to consider how contemporary forms of art can be inspiring public experiences, reach people needing special support and impress critics and other art insiders.
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