The art of taking it slow
SLOW ART DAY ENCOURAGES US TO SPEND MORE TIME
WITH ARTWORKS. WHAT YOU SEE MIGHT SURPRISE YOUWords: SUSIE HODGET
here’s a woman in a kitchen. Light from
a window touches the side of her face,
as she concentrates on her task of the
moment – pouring milk into a cooking
pot. But what do you do? Do you move on to
look at something else? Or stop and linger at
the scene being played out before you? In fact,
the woman is the subject of a painting by the
famous 17th-century Dutch artist Johannes
Vermeer (also the artist behind ‘Girl with a
Pearl Earring’). But, despite its renown, studies
show that in reality, if we’d encountered this
in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, where
it hangs, most of us would look at the work
for a matter of seconds before moving on.
Hence the need for Slow Art Day. Founded
by Phil Terry over a decade ago, Slow Art Day
takes place on 4 April – one day in the year
when across the world, museums and galleries
invite anyone and everyone to hit their personal
pause buttons and stand or sit in front of works
of art and observe – slowly. Slow Art Day
is aimed at helping us all – not just to enjoy
art more, but also to awaken our senses and
become more observant generally. And it
can be practised any day of the year.
This need to pause and focus isn’t something
new. In the early 1920s, the American artist
Georgia O’Keeffe (1887–1986), began producing
her huge, colourful f lower paintings. She
explained why she painted them: “Nobody
sees a f lower – really – it’s so small it takes time- we haven’t time – and to see takes time.”
Though we spend most hours of our days
with our eyes wide open, we certainly don’t
spend that time seeing. We are so swamped
visually that we simply can’t take it all in, and
there’s a difference between looking and seeing.
To look means to turn your eyes in a particular
direction, while to see, you have to become
aware of someone or something through your
eyes. For some, this comes naturally, but for a
lot of us, it’s a skill that needs to be sharpened.WHY BOTHER?
Even if you’re a regular gallery goer, there’s
always the temptation to equate a visit to a
gallery with cramming in a ‘must see’ at a
packed exhibition. The Musée du Louvre
reports that each visitor to the Mona Lisa
studies it for an average of just 15 seconds.
Fifteen seconds to notice every brush
mark, colour and details of the most famous
painting in the world. What’s the point?
The answer lies in all the things a work of art
can give us – if we give it time, and a bit of work.
It can help us understand past civilisations, to
appreciate stories, history, skills, ideas, colours,
shapes, forms and creativity, to see things from
different viewpoints, to make us feel calm,
uplifted, happy, determined, empathetic – and"WE, THE VIEWERS, ARE AS
CRUCIAL AS THE ARTISTS”
The art of taking it slow
SLOW ART DAY ENCOURAGES US TO SPEND MORE TIME
WITH ARTWORKS. WHAT YOU SEE MIGHT SURPRISE YOU
Words: SUSIE HODGET
here’s a woman in a kitchen. Light from
a window touches the side of her face,
as she concentrates on her task of the
moment – pouring milk into a cooking
pot. But what do you do? Do you move on to
look at something else? Or stop and linger at
the scene being played out before you? In fact,
the woman is the subject of a painting by the
famous 17th-century Dutch artist Johannes
Vermeer (also the artist behind ‘Girl with a
Pearl Earring’). But, despite its renown, studies
show that in reality, if we’d encountered this
in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, where
it hangs, most of us would look at the work
for a matter of seconds before moving on.
Hence the need for Slow Art Day. Founded
by Phil Terry over a decade ago, Slow Art Day
takes place on 4 April – one day in the year
when across the world, museums and galleries
invite anyone and everyone to hit their personal
pause buttons and stand or sit in front of works
of art and observe – slowly. Slow Art Day
is aimed at helping us all – not just to enjoy
art more, but also to awaken our senses and
become more observant generally. And it
can be practised any day of the year.
This need to pause and focus isn’t something
new. In the early 1920s, the American artist
Georgia O’Keeffe (1887–1986), began producing
her huge, colourful f lower paintings. She
explained why she painted them: “Nobody
sees a f lower – really – it’s so small it takes time- we haven’t time – and to see takes time.”
Though we spend most hours of our days
with our eyes wide open, we certainly don’t
spend that time seeing. We are so swamped
visually that we simply can’t take it all in, and
there’s a difference between looking and seeing.
To look means to turn your eyes in a particular
direction, while to see, you have to become
aware of someone or something through your
eyes. For some, this comes naturally, but for a
lot of us, it’s a skill that needs to be sharpened.WHY BOTHER?
Even if you’re a regular gallery goer, there’s
always the temptation to equate a visit to a
gallery with cramming in a ‘must see’ at a
packed exhibition. The Musée du Louvre
reports that each visitor to the Mona Lisa
studies it for an average of just 15 seconds.
Fifteen seconds to notice every brush
mark, colour and details of the most famous
painting in the world. What’s the point?
The answer lies in all the things a work of art
can give us – if we give it time, and a bit of work.
It can help us understand past civilisations, to
appreciate stories, history, skills, ideas, colours,
shapes, forms and creativity, to see things from
different viewpoints, to make us feel calm,
uplifted, happy, determined, empathetic – and"WE, THE VIEWERS, ARE AS
CRUCIAL AS THE ARTISTS”