The spectrum of happiness

doi:10.1126/science.abk3121

GSTDTAP > 气候变化

DOI	10.1126/science.abk3121
	The spectrum of happiness
	Vasilisa Skvortsova
	2021-08-27
发表期刊	Science
出版年	2021
英文摘要	On a recent morning, while navigating toward the Wellcome Collection to see its latest offerings, Joy and Tranquillity —two exhibitions featured as part of the museum’s “On Happiness” season—I found myself wondering what could be said about happiness that had not already been articulated. From ancient texts to apps that ask users to rate their hourly happiness level ([ 1 ][1]) to the multibillion-dollar wellness industry, the hunt for happiness seems to be universal. And yet it remains as elusive as it is mundane. Happily, the exhibitions offer an unconventional perspective on the types of things that make us feel good. The idea for these exhibitions originated in 2018, but a number of events, including the COVID-19 pandemic, pushed curators Laurie Britton Newell and George Vasey to “urgently reframe initial questions” and shift the focus toward a more “entangled version of happiness” as a way to “navigate moments of adversity.” One of the goals of the exhibitions, according to Vasey, is to engage with visitors and to bring catharsis, as summarized by a note written by Octavia Butler to herself: “Make people feel! Feel! Feel!” (The diary in which this passage appears is on display in Tranquillity .) Upon entering, visitors are immersed in a dimly lit space with a mesmerizing crystal in the center, an installation created by Scottish Indian artist Jasleen Kaur that is meant to evoke a yoga studio. But relaxation is not the point of this space. It is meant instead to question the selfish pursuit of personal well-being at the expense of others and the environment. From a cosmos-inspired folding almanac used to diagnose medical conditions in the 15th century to British photographer Toby Glanville’s images that capture the power of communal gardening, the exhibition documents the toolkit that humanity has built over the centuries to balance its passions. None of these mediums is as powerful as an encounter with nature, however. With the goal of evoking this singular experience, French photographer Chrystel Lebas’s multisensory installation, Regarding Forests , features large-format photographs of some of the oldest trees in the world, earthy scents, and a soundscape of rainforest fauna, recreating the Japanese practice known as “shinrin-yoku” (forest bathing). “Pleasure comes in repeated cycles, with different phases of wanting, liking, and satisfaction or satiety,” notes Morten Kringelbach, professor of neuroscience at Aarhus University, Denmark, and one of the exhibition’s advisers in one of the exhibits. Likewise, our emotions do not arise in isolation but influence, and are influenced by, our proximity to others. The Tranquillity exhibition thus prepares visitors for an encounter with the other end of the emotional spectrum, Joy , an exhibition on display in the museum’s second gallery. Visitors to Joy are greeted with a simulated dance floor of ecstatic figures in a room painted in vibrant yellow created by Harold Offeh. Dance is known for its therapeutic and pain-healing properties and for its ability to translate mental states into body movements. The exhibition also highlights drawings by the 11th-century Islamic physician Abu Ali Ibn Sina (Avicenna) that foreshadow our growing appreciation for the role played by brain-gut interactions in depression ([ 2 ][2]) and the beneficial role family and friendship have on our life expectancy, as observed by British anthropologist Robin Dunbar ([ 3 ][3]). Before one can start nervously calculating whether her friend circle is large enough to see her through to old age, however, she is likely to be distracted by colorful placards and the festive music playing in the next room. Here, visitors are confronted with the following question: Can protest be pleasurable? In their works, artists Amalia Pica and Joshua Virasami argue that it can indeed be, highlighting examples of “pleasure activism” ([ 4 ][4]) that reveal how striving for social justice could be a way to rewire perturbed social connections. The somewhat eclectic agglomeration of historical objects, scientific derivations, and contemporary art objects that are brought together in this pair of exhibitions hints at the difficulty of deconstructing a complex concept like happiness—a term that the curators intentionally avoid using. But they accurately reflect that there is no one-size-fits-all formula for happiness. Joy and Tranquillity represent a good starting point to increase our collective emotional literacy. 1. [↵][5]The Happiness Project, . 2. [↵][6]1. M. Valles-Colomer et al ., Nat. Microbiol. 4, 623 (2019). [OpenUrl][7] 3. [↵][8]1. R. Dunbar , Friends: Understanding the Power of Our Most Important Relationships (Little, Brown Book Group, 2021). 4. [↵][9]1. A. M. Brown , Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good (AK Press, 2019). [1]: #ref-1 [2]: #ref-2 [3]: #ref-3 [4]: #ref-4 [5]: #xref-ref-1-1 "View reference 1 in text" [6]: #xref-ref-2-1 "View reference 2 in text" [7]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DNat.%2BMicrobiol.%26rft.volume%253D4%26rft.spage%253D623%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx [8]: #xref-ref-3-1 "View reference 3 in text" [9]: #xref-ref-4-1 "View reference 4 in text"
领域	气候变化 ; 资源环境
URL	查看原文
引用统计
文献类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://119.78.100.173/C666/handle/2XK7JSWQ/336627
专题	气候变化资源环境科学
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Vasilisa Skvortsova. The spectrum of happiness[J]. Science,2021.
APA	Vasilisa Skvortsova.(2021).The spectrum of happiness.Science.
MLA	Vasilisa Skvortsova."The spectrum of happiness".Science (2021).