Picture This | Big Think: Have you ever noticed how long people look at a painting in a museum or gallery? Surveys have clocked view times anywhere between 10 and 17 seconds. The Louvre estimated that visitors studied the Mona Lisa, the most famous painting in the world, for an astoundingly low average of 15 seconds. Our increasingly online, instantaneous existence accounts for those numbers, obviously. Can we ever again find the patience to look at art as it was meant to be seen?
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This article points out some interesting trends in today's society. It is very true, that our generation is technology obsessed, and that people have trouble tuning into one thing for more than a few moments because of how much information is available at our fingertips. However, I think it depends on each individual person how much patience they have for any given activity. I may not have an attention span for something I don't like, or for a certain type of art, but when I find an activity or a piece of art intriguing, it can hold my attention for much longer periods of time. In my art history classes, I would easily get bored of certain pieces, but other pieces could hold my attention for a half-hour or even an hour-long discussion. I may tire easily of watching tv, but put a book in my hand, and I am entertained for hours. While I do believe that art can teach patience, as this article explores, I believe that an individual must be engaged in the art to begin with in order to be taught anything.
Perhaps art is not the only thing that can teach patience. The article also listed things like reading classics, or listening to symphonies that may be able to teach patience. I think that the individual needs to find an activity they can connect to and take the time to let that activity teach patience. Perhaps bird-watching is someone's passion, and is what teaches them patience, while baking a soufflé is someone else's passion that teaches them patience. It depends on the individual how much someone will get out of an activity.
This article couldn't preach more truly. Our constant need for technology and multitasking to get things done as quickly as possible in order to move on to the next thing has taken the quality from our work and life. Humans don't take the time to slow down and appreciate what's around us - the beauty of art and nature, and our gratefulness for the people who are in our lives. Instead, we rush around trying to tackle too many things and not doing any of them well, constantly annoyed that we can't live up to the impossible standard we have set for ourselves. People of today are miserable - very few can say they've never gone through a severe period of depression or don't know anyone who has. We are a pill-popping, energy drink - consuming society that has lost appreciation for the world we were given. So yes, next time take three hours at the museum and stare at your favorite painting for thirty minutes. Or take the longer walk home to appreciate what's around you. Slow down, and take the time to appreciate what's right in front of you.
I have to disagree with this article. I don't believe that patience can be taught by forcing students to sit in front of one painting for three hours. That isn't patience; that's restraint. Art teaches patience when you are making it, not viewing it. Sure you should look at each painting for more than 10 seconds or so, but three hours is extensive if the student doesn't even enjoy the art style. The real patience comes in taking the time to create such detailed pieces to perfection.
Yes, this article points out the fast paced life of our society now, but viewing art doesn't make it go any slower. If people are passing through museums quickly, it probably means that they aren't interested or the picture didn't catch their eye as something special. If someone is moved by a piece of artwork, they will stop and look and view the art until they have pulled out every detail and then move on.
I also agree with alot of what this article has to say. In today's day and age it is hard to slow down and keep ourselves from jumping to the next task. I think we could learn alot from taking a little more time to appreciate things like art. We are so used to getting all the information we could ever want at our fingertips I think we have forgotten what it's like to really delve into what information is put infront of us. I also agree that the hard part of having patience today is working in the time to just focus on one thing and making yourself stay completely involved in that one task.
I really appreciate this article mostly for the fact that my family refuses to go to museums with me for the sole reason that I spend so much time on one particular painting while they want to explore more quickly. I find that art does take patience, both in observation and creation. In observing, let's say, a painting for an extended period of time, you begin to pick out all the little nuances in it. I especially enjoy the connection with the line at the DMV. Art has taught me to look deeper at everything, even if it's just a wall or a line of people. Furthermore, creating art takes a lot patience in the physical making of it. This comes into play especially if you're creating something that requires each layer to dry before you continue, such as a painting. This can also be applied with your ability as well. It's doubtful that you'll get everything right on the first time, doubtful that your first pencil line will match the vision in your head. Art teaches us patience in our own work as well as patience with the art of other people.
I disagree with the statement, "Our increasingly online, instantaneous existence accounts for those numbers, obviously." Yes, the modern emphasis on speed, contributed to by the internet, no doubt plays a large role in why people look at paintings so quickly. However, we can't state that this is the definitive sole cause for this behavior. There are other factors that certainly play into it. For example, just as mentioned in the article, when I went to see the Mona Lisa, I only looked at it for about 15 seconds. This wasn't because I wasn't interested- it was because I was in a huge room in a claustrophobic crowd of people all looking at a painting more than 50 feet away, behind a glass wall and ropes so that the closest you could possibly get, if you managed to fight your way through the crowd, was maybe 20 feet. I liked the painting, but there were paintings just as interesting in the next room over, and it wasn't as uncomfortable an experience viewing them. I know that personally I love spending long amounts of time in museums- the only reason I would hurry through them is if I was eager to see all of the pieces in a limited amount of time. I'm sure I could spend more time looking at art- it's a problem that all of us have, and it should be addressed in the context of short attention spans caused by the internet. however, we should also examine how we could better set up museums and other spaces so as to encourage prolonged observation, as opposed to rushing through to make sure we see everything. Bemoaning the attention spans of the young isn't going to fix the problem, and not everyone has access to an art class that forces them to spend 3 hours in a museum. We have to find practical solutions to ensure that people actually look at the art, instead of rushing past and only seeing it. Perhaps ways to solve this would be by having smaller rooms with fewer paintings, instead of the overwhelming galleries that are often the display space (I always find myself distracted by the art next to the piece I am looking at). Maybe we could organize the art in a way that would encourage connections between the pieces, so people would see one and then go back to a previous one. We have to think of actual solutions.
So I started to think the last time I went to a museum. There was a large blue block, about 7' tall x 3' wide x 1' deep. The block was highly polished and just leaning up again the wall. At first I walked straight by and though nothing of it. Then I came back and caught it's mirror like finish. I couldn't help myself standing there and staring at it. Eventually I felt a little uncomfortable just standing there and not moving on through the museum. But I remember just wanting to sit there and stare at it. It was just so pure looking, I loved it!
Patience is something I been learning a lot and his point about patience being power is quite interesting. Power?
So this article really forces me to reconsider what I take time doing. Perfect example is that currently I really enjoy just sitting and looking at the current set on stage. Part of it is just to remember why I love what I do and part of it just calls me to take a moment to be still. Slow down and be still.
Best article I have read in a long time.
I think this article makes some good points. It is important to go to museums and slow down for a minute to enjoy the world around you, but at the same time I don't think that view are is the only aspect that goes into increased patience. Actually, I don't think you can truly view art until you've studied it.
I think that what allows for the patience to stop and study a painting in a museum is the understand of how that painting was made. But there is more to it than that. Some of the most amazing works of art took years to finish. That is the patience art can teach you. To stick with project even though there is no forceable end in sight and you are forced to stair at a nearly blank canvas with the hope that it will some day be great. You can't have the patience to stair at the Mona Lisa for 20 minutes if you don't have the patience to sit and draw a self portrait entirely out of dots.
The two are mutually inclusive.
That is why is is so important to keep art in schools. If we want the next generation to be more patient and curious than we are, we need to have them learn all aspect of patience and thought. We need to show them that art is important through both drawing and through museums. We need to teach them the importance of day dreaming. We need to teach them to embrace creativity. If all of that can be done, then maybe spending three hours at a museum won't seem like so much to ask of a person.
The sad thing is that the article says that the average viewer looks at a painting for 10-17 seconds, when the average viewer actually spends 2-3 seconds looking at a painting and 10 seconds reading the description next to it. I have been to museums several times and I constantly see people walk through an exhibit, glance at each piece, and move on. It always infuriated my high school art teacher. I like looking at art because each piece is like a treasure hunt. Some people just want to figure out what the artist was thinking when creating the piece. Of course, no one will ever understand another's mind, so basically, one could see a painting for a lifetime and never get their answer. But, by looking at a piece of artwork for a significant amount of time gives the viewer self-confidence, awareness, and a new pair or eyes. The viewer learns to trust their judgment, meaning an idea can never be wrong. The viewer also gains the awareness that they need to be more aware of their surroundings. Once they gain this awareness, they look at the world with a new pair of eyes. I don't know if technology has anything to do with it, but I do know that there are several people in my class who rush through things just to get it done. Because they feel obligated that they have to do it. Not because they want to. That is what is unfortunate about deadlines, but then again, if you didn't have deadlines, nothing would be completely finished. I think I have been very lucky in this category. After taking an art history course, I know some things to look for in a piece. This gives me something to search for; it is a connection between me and the artwork. I don't think many people know what to look for in art. They could be uncomfortable, like Adam was in his comment. OR They might not want to be that stereotypical, artist snob who thinks they know everything. These are some things we need to fix, because viewers are not gaining that relationship between themselves and the art. I am also very lucky because I have a really slow-walking mom. She always made me walk slowly, and I am grateful for this because I saw things that I would have missed at a fast pace. Sometimes I even walk instead of taking a bus, just so I can see things. I think we all need to slow down a bit. Some people say, well I want to see as much as I can, so I have to do everything fast paced. But the thing is, you miss so much. Take it slow, smell the roses, look around you, and I am certain, you will have no regrets.
Last summer I had an art teacher who told us about the average time a person spends looking at a piece of art (I think she said 15 seconds) and its something I think about every time I'm in a museum now. It can be really easy to rush through a museum, especially if there are specific exhibits or pieces you're interested in seeing. Or if you're on a trip with a large group. When I went to France my sophomore year, we were only given a hour and a half to spend in the Louvre. One of the strangest things I thought about the Louvre was the way that people went around looking at pieces like they were on a check list. Like the article says, people may be looking at the art, but they aren't really seeing it. Robert's exercise was really interesting to me. I'd be interested to see what it would be like to spend 3 hours looking at one piece, but I think the idea that you can train yourself to be more patient with these types of exercises makes a lot of sense.
I absolutely think that art helps with patience. I'm always telling my parents and brother to patient especially when driving). Of course I get frustrated at times, but more so with my inability to do something the way I want and not so much with wanting to work faster. I often desire more time to complete tasks, but do not grow impatient. I do not fuss over long lines, especially if there is no other choice. If there is nothing you can do about, there is no worth in getting frustrated with it. It will only make your experience more unpleasant. Art helps with this because I know I cannot do my best unless I take my time. Because you cannot rush, you get used to having to waiting and often spending time both with and away from your art in order to make it its best it can be.
I think about my museum experience (which is quite a lot) and I think about what makes me move through a gallery. Am I compelled to move because I feel like I've spent a reasonable amount of time on a piece of art or exhibit? Did I feel like I got what I needed to experience or gain? Most of the time this is hardly ever the reason. What makes me move is time, restlessness, and people. I think this article really speaks to the issue that our generation is really focused on time. Not having enough, to much of it, where has all the time gone? I personally say that focusing on the right now is not really how a manager is really geared to thinking. In fact we are better at our jobs for thinking several steps. So knowing this about myself as well as many of my peers, I think about when I'm in a museum I can't help but move a long because I want to experience as much as I can within a given time frame. I think about whenever I'm in a museum I see all these places for people to sit and I'm always like, who does that? Who sits and looks at art when there's so much to see and only so much time? I think we centralize on the fact that time is a finite resource, we can't make more of it, only use what we have better. But clearly if people are spending 15 seconds looking at the Mona Lisa and moving on, then we need to reassess how we are prioritizing our time and what we are losing by doing so.
I definitely think this article speaks truth. We spent a lot of time drawing at the museum at the beginning of the year, and it was cool how the longer you looked at a piece the deeper you eye could dig in and around the work. On the contrary, I noticed that people really do spend mere seconds looking at a piece of art. I was especially shocked to learn from the article that people only spend seconds even when looking at a piece as famous as the Mona Lisa. It's so strange that people have grown to think they are able to absorb all the meaning the need in 10- 15 seconds.
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