Enjoying pictures? It’s an art
Try ‘slow looking’ and you see more, says the Tate
We’Ve had slow food and slow television.
Now an art gallery has published a guide to ‘slow looking’ as it attempts to fight back against the hectic pace of modern life.
Spurred by reports that art lovers were spending as little as eight seconds looking at each work of art, the Tate Modern is encouraging members of the public to stare at one for up to an hour.
This will give them enough time to better appreciate art, it says.
The Tate is joining galleries and museums around the world in celebrating today’s Slow Art Day.
The annual event, which has been running since 2010, sees galleries put on special tours to try to get people to change their viewing habits. The guide, which is published on the gallery’s website says: ‘The important thing is that you select a work that you are drawn to, that intrigues, attracts or frustrates you.
‘Devote your time to truly getting to know a few artworks. Try to think of the gallery as a menu, rather than a to-do list.’
The guide recommends people take at least ten minutes in order to appreciate the work of art, but says some people could take up to an hour. It says: ‘To keep track of time, set a quiet timer on your phone or try simply counting a number of breaths.’
It recommends visitors get comfortable on a particular bench or stool and to not worry if they don’t have any initial thoughts on the artwork. It also encourages them to return to a specific piece on another day, to see if their response to the work is different.
The guide also says people should not try to shut out the noise of other museum-goers.
It says: ‘Don’t try too hard to shut out what is going on around you. Don’t be put off by those squeaky shoes or the sound of visitors chatting, this is part of the fun of slow looking.’
Slow Art workshop founder Susan Moore says people need to tear up the rulebook when it comes to looking at art.
She said: ‘There’s this unspoken museum etiquette where everybody stands in a reverential arc about six feet away from a painting so nobody looks at it properly and I think you need the time and space to really look.’
Other institutions taking part in Slow Art Day include the Victoria and Albert Museum, Natural history Museum and Yorkshire Sculpture Park.