Testimonies of emptiness: the value of sublimation in psychoanalysis

Resumos

By taking Lacan’s fruitful discussion in his seventh seminar on the relationship between sublimation and emptiness as the main guiding element, the main objective of this work is to articulate sublimation, in its creationist strand, to the possibility of witnessing emptiness, both in art as in analytical work. Through a bibliographic review, we will first present some ideas by Freud and Lacan about sublimation, highlighting the close relationship of sublimation with sexuality, on the one hand, and with the death drive and with emptiness, on the other. After this theoretical and conceptual exposition about sublimation, highlighting its creationist dimension, we will question how different artists materialize and witness the encounter with emptiness in their works, discerning issues that directly interest the psychoanalytic clinic, such as love, death, and mourning.

Key words: Sublimation; psychoanalysis; art; emptiness