Make Good Again
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Catharsis is the process of releasing and thereby providing relief from repressed emotions. It’s something you might experience from participating in therapy, or when something that’s bothering you is addressed in a way that helps how you feel about it.
Alternatively, catharsis can also be considered a creative technique that can be seen in the work of brands and ad agencies across the world. In 2013 Ogilvy- Brazil commissioned a sketch artist on behalf of Dove Beauty to sketch women describing their appearance from a place where the sketch artist couldn’t see them. Then after the artist had finished sketching them they had another person who knew them come in and again, describe the appearance of the person who’d just been sketched. When they showed the sketches to the subject it was evident that the sketch of them described by someone else was more flattering than the one where they had described themselves. This project was called Beauty Sketches, and what it did was illuminate the reality that we are more beautiful than we give ourselves credit for. A lot of us will always be too hard on ourselves, and because of that we may never get to see our reflection. This stunt let people see a glimmer of it through the eyes of another in a way that remedied their self-perception.
Another example of work that does this is a project called #WhyIdidn’tReport by Ha Jung Song, Thomas Shim, and Bowook Yoon over at Droga5 NY. This project involved placing pieces of paper with the words #WhyIdidn’tReport on them in public places all over NYC. The pieces of paper and hashtag became a platform to let anyone who’s experienced sexual assault share why they felt they couldn’t come forward as well as let other survivors know they’re not alone. The response this project received was eye-opening. Not only in providing tangible proof of how rampant and damaging this is kind of behavior is, but equally in addressing something to those it spoke to in a way that they appreciated. #WhyIDidn’tReport let those affected conquer their past by giving them a way to be there for one another.
