Amy Kirschke, Barbara Brown Lee Chief Learning and Engagement Officer, invites you to bring your curiosity and sense of adventure to look at a single work of art on your next Museum visit.
Long before the New York Times published its first 10-Minute Challenge, I’ve been leading Slow Art Saturdays at the Milwaukee Art Museum. We look at one work for 60 minutes.
But let’s ease into it. Deep focus is a skill that can truly enrich your experience with works of art. It also gets easier with practice. Today’s average visitor spends about 10 seconds looking at a work. Most feel pressured to see as many artworks as possible during their visit, which highlights one huge benefit of membership: you can more easily drop in for just 10 minutes to see one painting, print, or sculpture. But many still find this a strain on their patience, hence the word “challenge.” I could swap it out for “an exercise in patience,” but let’s be honest, a challenge is more fun!
Whether or not you’ve ever spent 10 minutes with an artwork, I challenge you to give it a try! What more might you discover? We have plenty of art for countless 10-minute “challenges”—including a new painting on view. Or dare I suggest an hour? Again, let’s ease into it.
The 10-Minute Challenge
Start by selecting a work of art. Find one that intrigues you in some way. It might spark delight, curiosity, or even disdain. Set a timer for 10 minutes.
Find a comfortable position where you can see the entire work. Allow your eyes to wander slowly over it. You might want to scan the work before focusing on specific areas, or you may be immediately drawn to certain details. There is no right or wrong way to look. Just let your eyes guide you.
Note the lines, shapes, and colors, the sense of space or a place, and the areas of movement or stillness. If you start to feel restless, move around to observe the artwork from different angles and distances.
Notice if the work evokes a mood or feeling, or if it recalls something personal or sparks some other association or idea. Does that shade of gray in an abstract painting remind you of a winter sky? Do those hands in a portrait remind you of your grandmother’s? Can you start to hear the wind in the trees the longer you sit with a landscape painting?
Resist the urge to pull out that smartphone. You might speculate about the artist’s intentions, try to understand the techniques they used, or wish you could ask them a question. Look at the artwork again with these in mind and consider your own interpretations.
Then, either all too soon, or after what seems an eternity, the 10-minute timer ends.
What artwork will you spend time with next?
Add upcoming Slow Art Saturday dates to your calendar for a slow-looking group experience. Visit mam.org/slow-art for details.
Check out the Looking Guide developed for the exhibition True Story: Photography, Journalism, and Media that can be used with any work. Visit mam.org/true-story to download the PDF.
