In Vento (by Mauro Bigonzetti):
Individuals seek patterns, even in chaos, even if spurious. This quest is common to all (even digital) life, which seeks to encode and navigate the world. Discovered patterns knit the society together by helping its members coordinate with each other.
Art is the experience of being alone together with those who have long died, those who will live long after, and strangers, distant or near---all those who share the compulsion to create, if only vicariously. Art is a shared hallucination, a model of reality, the reality itself.
Individuals find comfort in synchrony with others only to express autonomy by breaking free to syncopate, outperform, and improvise.
One way social science contributes is by isolating and naming phenomena. (Names don't explain, of course, just catalogue.) Art functions similarly but gives more expressive names.
The Runaway (by Kyle Abraham, with NYCB):
For some, a good life obtains if pleasure prevails over pain. For others, a good life is a good story. For some, a society worth imitating is healthy, sated, and entertained. For others, a society worth imitating is one that promises adventure.
