Rubin Museum’s Tips for Slow Looking

The Rubin Museum in New York has been a longtime leader in the Slow Art Day movement.

In 2016, they published a terrific article with tips on slow looking. You can read the article here:
SLOW ART DAY: MAKE YOUR NEXT MUSEUM VISIT MORE MINDFUL

The Rubin understands how hard it is for most people to slow down. “It’s not easy for most people to sit with one piece of art for more than a few moments.”

They emphasize that this activity, if practiced continuously, will bring great joy for decades. “…the deep looking encouraged during Slow Art Day is a lifelong skill that will continue to provide rewarding experiences in museums and galleries for years to come.”

We couldn’t agree more.

We think this simple concept is important – especially in this age of multi-tasking where the emphasis is placed on speed. We started Slow Art Day in 2009 to provoke a new way of seeing in the midst of the blindness that this screen-based world is creating.

The Rubin Museum is hosting Slow Art Day again this year – if you’re in the New York area, we hope you’ll join them!

 

Slow Art Day Tips from the Rubin Museum

Rubin Museum of Art

Rubin Museum of Art

The Rubin Museum of Art in New York is hosting a Slow Art Day event for the third year in a row, and they have some expert tips for you to bring with you to your slow looking experience on April 8. Their advice?

Take longer — and longer — looks
Look at a piece for 5 seconds then turn around and write down five things to describe it. Do the same thing again looking for 10 seconds, then 20.
Back-to-back drawing
In this partner exercise, two people stand or sit back to back. One person faces the object and describes it to the second, who draws it.
Ask yourself questions
Some questions Sloan recommends you can ask yourself for deeper looking include: What is the first thing you notice about this artwork? Does this make you think of anything that you’ve seen before? What do you see that makes you say that?

Read the full article on AM New York here.