Metropolitan Museum of Art Director, Thomas P. Campbell, talks about the art of asking basic questions and of really looking at art.
Of interest, he refers to an Italian art professor, a passionate teacher, who reminded him that “all art was once contemporary” and implored him not to get caught up in art world jargon but rather to use his eyes, to really look, to ask basic questions and to try to *see* the art.
It may be interesting enough that a former military barracks turns into a showcase for art each September on Governors Island in New York, but this year’s fair features a real first for the slow movement: the inaugural Slow Art Day art fair exhibit.
The idea to bring Slow Art Day to Governor’s Island began last spring, when one of the founders of the fair, Nix Laemmle, attended the 2012 Slow Art Day Chelsea gallery tour hosted by Alison Pierz. Excited by the concept of Slow Art, Nix told Alison that bringing it to the fair could add a new dimension. After brainstorming with Slow Art Day founder Phil Terry, Alison and Nix then decided to not only promote the concept of looking slowly but to create a Slow Art Day room at the fair that would feature artists focused on slow working.
As a result, Slow Art Day’s first-ever art fair exhibit features six artists who create slowly.
Estonian artist Jaanika Peerna is particularly invested in the slow movement, and her complex graphite drawings express that.
Graphite drawing by Jaanika Peerna
In addition to her slowly-made graphite drawings, Peerna created a maze on the floor of the Slow Art Day exhibit, which has succeeded in slowing visitors down as they enter the room.
A maze along the floor of the Slow Art Day room helps viewers literally slow down to view the art featured there.
Hong Seon Jang, the second featured artist, works with Scotch tape. The overlapping tape creates opaque lines to form a wooded landscape. According to exhibit organizer Pierz, the Scotch tape art intrigues and engages visitors.
Scotch tape art piece by Hong Seon Jang
Other works in the Slow Art Day room include a more traditional landscape oil painting and two abstract works.
Oil painting by Emily Adams
The two abstract works share an interesting connection. While one is a painting and the other is made up of coffee stains, each creator made their respective pieces via a slow process where they worked out personal issues while slowly creating their art over many days.
Abstract piece made from coffee stains by Maude Martins
Abstract painting by Dana Crossan
The final artwork featured is by newcomer Colleen Blackard, who creates densely rendered, representational works in ball point pen. The piece selected for the Slow Art Day room is from her newest body of work where she covers the drawing with vellum to abstract the image. The viewer is then invited to press the vellum down to reveal the image underneath. The interactivity of the piece is appealing to slow viewers, most of whom are surprised by the fact that they get to touch art.
Touchable vellum art piece by Colleen Blackard
This well-attended art fair runs on Governor’s Island in New York City throughout weekends in the month of September. If you’re in the area, stop by for a unique experience—and make sure you slowly visit the Slow Art Day exhibit.
-Report by Alison Pierz, Slow Art Day host; edited by Jennafer Martin and Phil Terry
We’ve been busy adding more locations for Slow Art Day 2013 – thanks to everyone who has signed up to be a host! Here are the latest venues:
Welcome to these new venues, and be sure to check out the complete (and constantly updated!) list of 2013 venues. If you don’t see your local museum or gallery, sign up to be a host!
A combination of anthropology and poetry made for a unique experience for Slow Art Day 2012 at Arizona State Museum in the United States. Rather than displaying artifacts as stand-alone pieces, this anthropology-focused museum uses them in context to illustrate cultural and historical stories. So weaving storytelling into Slow Art Day made for a unique approach to this event.
Working with the docents from the University of Arizona Poetry Center, the museum invited visitors to read a haiku poem written by one of the docents and find the object that it described or to discover a piece on exhibit that interested them. They were asked to really look at the piece slowly and then write their own haiku poem about it.
Some suggestions to help visitors look at the exhibits deeper included:
Over 100 poems were written and transcribed onto a large piece of butcher paper, which is now on display at the Poetry Center to encourage people who see it to visit the the museum and figure out which objects inspired them.
This interactive approach was a great success in helping visitors experience the exhibits in new ways. As one visitor reported: “Although I was reluctant to participate at the time (my wife cajoled me into it), in retrospect I can see that the methodology is a good one for getting people to begin to look a little deeper at a piece of art. As a retired scientist and military guy, I tend to focus more on what can be seen, measured, etc. and this exercise did, in fact, make me slow down for a second.”
For more on Arizona State Museum’s Slow Art Day experience, visit their blog.
–Report by Lisa Falk, Arizona State Museum’s Director of Education. Edited by Slow Art Day blog editor Jennafer Martin. Photographs courtesy Christine Baines and Arizona State Museum.
An open studios event, Slow Art Day 2012 at the Chinese Arts Center in Manchester, United Kingdom, saw a steady stream of 88 visitors slowly enjoying art while interacting with the artists and enjoying a snack of slowly made food (10-day sourdough, Amish Friendship Bread, tea eggs, cheese, radish seedleaves, and ginger beer). Hosted by a collective of artists in residence, the pieces visitors viewed were all contemporary, nontraditional works-in-progress by members of the Life Friendly Collective, including many interactive elements, such as a collaborative story on the gallery wall initiated by Elizabeth Wewiora (pictured below).
Photo by Erinma Ochu
Visitors felt the context of Slow Art Day made them more likely to spend time thinking about as well as participating in the art pieces, and the overall response was very positive!
–Report by Jessica Mautner, on behalf of Life Friendly Collective. Edited by Slow Art Day blog editor Jennafer Martin
The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center hosted its first Slow Art Day on April 28, 2012 – and based on the success, host Nicole Anthony says that the center plans to offer slow art viewing exercises, complete with a post-viewing wrap-up, more often.
Host Nicole Anthony of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center.
Like many Slow Art Day events it was small but significant. The small group size allowed for lengthy discussion over each of the 5 different art pieces that Anthony chose—in fact, there was so much engagement that the group spent an average of 30 minutes slowly looking at and then discussing each piece.
John Wayne, 1963 (mixed media) by Marisol (Escobar) was one of the five pieces Nicole Anthony chose for the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center Slow Art Day 2012.
Afterwards, lunch in the center’s cafe continued the lively conversation. As with many Slow Art Day events, the experience not only increased participants’ love for art, but Anthony says it also created a surprisingly deep sense of community.
– Nicole Anthony’s host report edited by Slow Art Day editors Jennafer Martin and Phil Terry
Slow Art Day 2012 is today, Saturday, April 28.
Events have already occurred in China, India, and all over Australia. As I write this, Slow Art Day events are happening in Rome, Paris, London, Copenhagen and all over Europe.
Slow Art Day events are about to start in North and South America.
Have a good and slow day of looking and loving art.
– Phil
Phil Terry
Founder, Slow Art Day
P.S. If you need anything or have any questions about today’s events, get in touch via e-mail here.
Watch
Created by Scribbler’s Club, hosts for Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery Slow Art Day.
Mim Scalin is an artist who teaches workshops on creativity at the Virginia Museum of Fine Art studio school using Mail Art as the medium. An active member of the International Union of Mail Artists, which connects her with people throughout the world, this is her first time hosting Slow Art Day.
Slow Art Day: What does Slow Art Day mean to you and why did you get involved?
Mim: This is my first time as a host for Slow Art day. My son told me about it and I thought, “wow, like the Slow Food movement. This will be great fun.” Slowing down to participate in something seems like a good idea at a time when we all seem to be have a lot going on and rarely slow down.
Slow Art Day: What’s one artwork that has had a big impact on you?
Mim: I grew up in Chicago and was often taken to the Chicago Art Institute as a child. Among the many fabulous works of art, I saw Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, by Seurat, and I think that had a big influence on me. I was fascinated by how the artist could create something like this, and I wanted to make art, too.
Slow Art Day: Tell us about your Slow Art Day event.
Mim: I really enjoy the Virginia Museum of Fine Art, and I go there lots since it’s near my home. The museum has undergone a major renovation recently and there are works on display now that I’d never seen before, or perhaps hadn’t paid attention to.
I’ve chosen 5 works from the American collection. I included 3 portraits, a landscape and a still-life. Most of the artists are not well-known, which is a benefit as the work will be “fresh.” I went many times over the past couple of months trying to limit choices. I had a friend join me and we had the best time looking at work slowly and determining the final selection.
After viewing the work, we’ll meet up at the museum cafe for lunch and share the experience of viewing art slowly.
Join Mim to peruse American Art for Slow Art Day in Richmond, Virginia, Saturday, April 28, 2012.
