Recently there was an article in the NYT about art viewing and how most people don’t take enough time to stop and really appreciate a work of art. Michael Kimmelman wrote that while at the Louvre, “almost nobody, over the course of that hour or two, paused before any object for as long as a full minute.” Most people barely broke their stride in order to get through the museum and “see” everything. This reminded me of a time I was in Italy. A man was videotaping his museum experience with his family. As I watched him I took joy in the fact that I do not own a video camera for this reason alone–the man never once removed the camera from his face in order to view the artwork with his own eyes. He spent the entire visit to the museum looking at the art through the camera lens….sacrilegious.

He also explained that we rely on the wall text to tell us what we are supposed to get from a work of art. This is exactly what I tell people to avoid. Wall text is helpful when it comes to context, especially with conceptual art, but art is a personal experience. Kimmelman reminds us that, “Artists fortunately remind us that there’s in fact no single, correct way to look at any work of art, save for with an open mind and patience. If you have ever gone to a museum with a good artist you probably discovered that they don’t worry so much about what art history books or wall labels tell them is right or wrong, because they’re selfish consumers, freed to look by their own interests.”

Kimmelman goes on to explain that because of all our modern day distractions we hardly do anything with the focus or intensity that people used to. How sad, I thought as I read this but also how true. I think about how much art I try to fit into a month and I wondered how much am I missing out on. So I vow for the rest of the summer to stop and smell the roses. Whatever you are up to this summer, I hope you are slowing down to enjoy it.

Article: New York Times, “At Louvre, Many Stop to Snap but Few Stay to Focus,” Michael Kimmelman, August 3, 2009