Tomorrow, 27 April, is Slow Art Day. The point is to look at five works of art for ten minutes each, then meet with others to discuss the works. The goal? To encourage the art of seeing. Kind of fits with Good at Looking, doesn't it?
L.S. Lowry, Hillside in Wales (1962), on display in 'Looking at the View' at Tate Britain until 2 June 2013
Apparently the average viewer spends just 17 seconds looking at each painting or sculpture when wandering through a museum. In his book How to Look at a Painting, Justin Paton (who rightly questions if there is an 'average viewer') suggests there are two types of art lookers - the Suddenlys, who want an epiphany that hits like a freight train, and the Slowlys, who think art deserves patience. Paton thinks it can take an hour in front of a single work for the the 'stray associations' in the brain (the parking meter, the piped-in muzak, the grocery list) to settle down and allow the picture to disclose itself.
He also recommends taking good company to get the most of that hour. What better way to spend tomorrow than to go spend some quality time with a friend and an artwork?
Slow Art Day is an international event that was started in 2008 and so far most of the venues are in the States, but there are more than 250 museums and galleries participating, including Tate Britain, Whitechapel Gallery and the Photographers' Gallery here in London.
He also recommends taking good company to get the most of that hour. What better way to spend tomorrow than to go spend some quality time with a friend and an artwork?
Slow Art Day is an international event that was started in 2008 and so far most of the venues are in the States, but there are more than 250 museums and galleries participating, including Tate Britain, Whitechapel Gallery and the Photographers' Gallery here in London.
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