Mumford waved a hand-written page. ‘This is what I’ve been trying to tell you about art galleries.’
‘People walk in front of you all the time.’
‘No. Well, yes, but it’s not just that. People hurry past everything.’
Mieke had heard this before too. ‘As if they were browsing in a shop.’
‘Good. I’m glad you were listening. People spend more time reading the plaques next to an artwork than they do actually looking at it. But now, finally, I’ve found a conversation about slow looking.’
Mieke nodded.
‘I heard this first on The Minefield. Scott Stephens was talking about lingering before something that is worthy and beautiful. He says what is required in front of a work of art is silence. He talks about that the hesitation before the language is engaged.’
‘Hesitation. That’s good.’
‘So then I hunted down a few other podcasts and wrote some of it down.’
‘Really? By hand?’
‘It’s meditative.’
Mieke nodded.
Mumford read from her page.
‘This is by Rebecca Chamberlain. She’s a researcher in the psychology of art and aesthetics at Goldsmiths University in London.’
People will often spend a few seconds looking at an artwork and then go immediately to the explanatory text.
Mumford looked pointedly at Mieke to emphasise that her own opinions had been confirmed.
It speaks to this idea of how difficult it is to tolerate ambiguity in art … feeling like there is some message there that you are not getting.
‘Rebecca talks about the profound emotions that can be elicited.’
‘Rothko,’ said Mieke.
‘Yes. She mentions Rothko actually. And Bonnard. But really any of it. All of it. Art can be transformative if you just take time. They actually did some research.’
… slowing down in front of just a few works of art seems to lead to more engagement, more interesting, more memorable experiences, rather than sampling from many different artworks.’
And there’s also a comment I like from an artist. Aiden Hart.
‘The more quiet we are, the more still we are, the longer we look, the more we can find … Profound things happen.’
REFERENCES
“The Art of Slow Looking” (2019), The Art of …: A series telling the human stories behind art in Tate’s collection. Tate Gallery, London.
‘Is Art The New Mindfulness?: The (Real) Value of Art with Dr. Rebecca Chamberlain’ (2024), Cultur Art, YouTube.
‘Neglected Practices: Attentiveness’(2021), The Minefield. ABC Australia podcasts.
IMAGES:
Paul Klee (1917), ‘Municipal Jewel’. The MET Museum. via Rawpixel.com
Pierre Bonnard (1932), ‘The French Window’. via itoldya420.com
“Empty Benches” (2011), Regan Vercruysse on Flickr. Featuring: Mark Rothko No. 14, (1960) SFMOMA
The Absent Answer 