Slow Art Day @ MMA #2
May 1, 2014
Guest Blog from Rachel Tirone
Volunteer organizer of Slow Art Day at McMaster
The second-annual Slow Art Day held at the McMaster Museum was a great success! We had a good turnout with many return guests from last year’s event. This year we looked at works chosen from the Margaret Watkins: Domestic Symphonies and Antiquities exhibits, as well as from the 2014 McMaster Studio Arts graduating show, Chiasmata. Like last year, the event was designed to encourage guests to look at art slowly. Since most visitors at a museum or gallery spend an average of 30 seconds looking at an artwork, I suggested that our Slow Art Day participants take 3-5 minutes looking at each selected piece of art. After slow-looking for one hour, we retreated to the Coin Room for a catered lunch and open discussion.
Part of Slow Art Day’s initiative is to break down barriers between museums and their visitors. A museum or gallery setting can be intimidating, particularly if you do not have an arts background, so the discussion portion of the event is intended to create an open environment where people can bring their own backgrounds and experiences to the table.
We talked a lot about personal taste, specifically regarding Margaret Watkins’ London (A+B) Design for Carpet – “Daily Express”, a collage of 8 coloured gelatin silver prints. Our participants either loved it or hated it! It was very interesting to hear such varied responses to the same work, and I was so thrilled that everyone felt comfortable sharing and engaging in conversation.
Slow Art Day happened to fall on the same day as the opening reception for Chiasmata, providing participants with the opportunity to stick around for the festivities and meet the artists after lunch.
Thank you to the staff at the McMaster Museum of Art for allowing me to host again this year, as well as to all the participants who came out for the event. We’ve already started brainstorming for Slow Art Day 2015, and I hope to see you all there!
–Rachel
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