Have
you ever come out from the Uffizi or another museum feeling sore and exhausted?
You’re not alone. ‘People usually go to a museum, see as much as they can, get
exhausted, and don’t return,’ says New York consultant Phil Terry. The idea
behind the Slow Art movement, which he developed, is that looking at art should
be a positive experience that leaves you ‘inspired, not tired.’
One day in 2008, Terry
sat down in front of an abstract painting for an hour. And in that hour, he
started to see ‘below the surface,’ make connections between artists, and
develop hypotheses of his own. Phil Terry says he didn’t have any particular
interest in art before this profound experience. Reflecting on how slow
observation changes the way we relate to art, he decided to promote this method
of looking through an annual event called Slow Art Day.
In April 2010, people
in 55 cities around the world got together to look at art slowly, and then talk
about it over food (see TF 119). Volunteer hosts-including me-chose a handful
of works for participants to study for about 10-15 minutes each. They could look
alone or with friends or family; the important thing was to focus on the art
for longer than usual, and in so doing to observe more about it in a
self-guided manner. In the United States, groups met to talk about the
experience over lunch, while here in Florence after some slow looking at the
Church of Santa Croce, our group worked it out over aperitivi at Brac. We had
native Florentines and expats exchanging experiences in two languages and all
agreed that we ought to do this more often.
For Slow Art 2011 we
are aiming big. Worldwide, 76 cities are participating; in Italy, there are
events in Florence and Rome (see the list on a map at http://www.slowartday.com). On April 16, The Florentine and Palazzo Strozzi
are co-hosting Slow Art at the Picasso, Mirò, Dalì exhibit. With the help of
the museum’s education department, we have developed a ‘looking kit’ to assist
art-lovers of all levels and ages to have meaningful contact with art.
Participants will look at assigned paintings on their own time and will meet as
a group at 5pm to talk over English high tea.
Discussion groups are
planned in English, Italian and, in honour of the Catalan artists, Spanish, and
we look forward to talking about both the works and about peoples’ experience
with the method of Slow Art.
For full information and to sign up, please see http://slowartflorence2011.eventbrite.com
