Blog post 9

“The only way people can really describe pain is to objectify it.”

The first line in the article is a quote from Elaine Scarry that says ”To have pain is to have certainty; to hear about pain is to have doubt.” That is why people objectify pain, because when we feel pain we are certain of it, however if you are describing pain to someone or hearing about it, there is nothing but doubt because words will never be able to describe a feeling. In real life we rely on portraying an idea of how we feel onto another person. The only way we can do this is by relating it to something that they have physically felt or know. The only times when a person can know how you feel without you describing it using objects is when they are going through the exact same thing. Humans remember pain, and this pain can be triggered by an event that reminds them of it. Many artists endeavor to put a relatable feeling of pain in their work.

“she suggests (Scarry) every impulse to make things—whether a painting, a chair, a poem, a vaccine or a building—is an attempt to ease the burden of sentience by shifting some of it onto the object.”

I see where this quote is coming from and I agree with it. However, people also make art or paintings in order to make their pain a tangible thing. Telling people about pain is having doubt and so many people make that emotion they feel into an object so they are certain of what they feel. Art is made in order to make people feel a certain emotion and this includes happiness. I think pain is a big part of art, but so is happiness and putting your emotions into an object is done with happiness too. People take photos to remember a moment they were happy in and they write love poems to attempt to put down in words how they felt. People do build chairs and buildings in an attempt to ease their burden. I think paintings and poems ease the burden in a different way and that is by attempting to express that feeling.