Response to Sarah

I am responding to Sarah’s question “why is art so important in life?”
Because my own answer to this question is not yet fully developed, I will answer this question first in reference to the definitions we have encountered so far from Tolstoy, Freud, Bell, and Plato.
According to Tolstoy, art is significant in life because it advances mankind both individually and collectively. Art serves as a form of emotional communication which unites the artist and the audience. This helps us to understand each other, thus catalyzing advancement.
Freud’s definition depends upon some of his prior theories. According to Freud, we are constantly experiencing tension between our conscious and our unconscious because we are ashamed of some of the wishes of our unconscious. To deal with these shameful wishes, we suppress them and allow them to be manifested in dreams. Artists are more in touch with their unconscious, and reveal these wishes through their art to help relieve the tension. For Freud, art is important to life because it maintains our sanity by helping us to relieve the tension.
Bell believes art is important because it enables us to experience aesthetic emotion and to transport us “from the world of man’s activity to a world of aesthetic exaltation” (Wartenberg 122). Apparently Bell believes the experience of aesthetic emotion is important to human life; however, he also recognizes that many people do not experience it and, if they do, the experiences of many are impure. This shows that however important Bell may consider art may be, unlike Freud and Tolstoy he does not consider art vital.
Plato does not consider art important—in fact, he claims that art should be omitted from an ideal state for its power to invoke emotion. (The ideal state would be dominated by reason).
If I were to offer my own opinion, I would agree most with Freud. It seems to me that art does act to relieve us from something, although I am not exactly sure what that something is.
QUESTION: If art does act to as a form of relief, does it help to relieve the audience in a way which is different from the artist?