The Complete Guide to Slow Looking

But before that last week, we celebrated our 150th episode by sharing 10 powerful engagement ideas drawn from across our entire podcast archive. It was wonderful to look back and highlight some of the key insights that have emerged over the last four years. So if you missed it, do go back and listen to episode 1 5 0 for some big ideas.

And before we dive into today's show, I also want to mention my book, The Art Engager, which explores many of the concepts, ideas, and themes we discuss on this very podcast. You can find it on Amazon and other major retailers worldwide. Now let's get on with today's show. Over the past four years, we've explored slow looking in 20 different episodes, making it our most discussed topic.

So today I'm taking you on a curated journey through all of these episodes, creating a roadmap, drawing threads together, if you will, that you could use to understand and implement slow looking in your personal practice and your professional work.

So whether you are new to slow looking or you want to deepen your existing practice, this guide will point you to the most valuable episodes from our back catalog and and also helpfully save you from having to search through 150 episodes to find the gems. So let's start with the fundamentals. As I define it, slow looking is a practice mindset and approach involving the study of something with intention and attention.

So it's not simply the amount of time you spend with something -although our aim is always to try and look longer than we normally would than our first glances- it's much more about the quality of our attention, rather than spending huge amounts of time with something. But there's a lot more to unpack. So start here, episode two. What is slow looking and how can I get started? So this remains our most popular episode of all time and for good reason.

At its heart is one of my core beliefs that engagement starts with slow looking. It's really been the secret to the most engaging discussions I facilitated in the museum. So this episode covers all of the fundamentals, things like how long to look, so start with three to five minutes, what to look at, anything, whether to do it alone or with others, both are good, both have benefits, and it addresses common questions about things like whether it needs to include mindfulness or meditation.

The answer is it can, but it doesn't have to. So episode two is from 2021, and my thinking has evolved somewhat since then, as thinking does. And I would add that I now think about slow looking in terms of two general approaches, an introspective approach and an extrospective one. So an introspective approach involves analyzing something in relation to your own feelings, experiences, and thoughts.

This is the one that perhaps might include mindfulness and meditation and would lead to lots of deep personal connections. An extrospective approach. On the other hand, explores meanings, possibilities, and interpretation, and potentially might focus more on the artist, the maker, the historical context, or other layers of meaning. So you may find that you naturally lean more towards one approach or the other, although of course, both approaches can be present in one slow looking experience.

If you are looking to define what slow looking means to you, either as a facilitator or as a museum, this is a good place to start thinking about it.

And the idea behind this episode is that if we are better at slow looking ourselves , then we are in a far better position to guide others through the process of slow looking too. So episode seven walks you through the practical steps of developing your own daily practice. It helps you to build that observational muscle so that slow looking becomes something that feels very natural to you. And to help you develop your personal practice.

I also have three episodes packed with practical activities that you can do throughout the year. These are episodes ,1434 and 63. Don't worry, I will link to everything in the show notes. And these three episodes have specific actionable activities that you can use to develop your own slow looking practice. So if you are keen to get started with slow looking, begin by just practicing it every day as part of your life.

So try taking a walk, focusing on a particular color, or look at the view out of your window every day for a few minutes, noticing what's different and what's the same. You'll get a far more nuanced understanding of slow looking by appreciating the benefits for yourself first. And speaking of benefits, if you want to understand more about why slow looking matters, then episode 41: 12. Reasons to get started with slow looking is for you.

So this episode is particularly useful if you are interested in persuading people to start up a slow looking program. I explore many benefits in this episode from the importance of developing observational skills, to how slow looking improves wellbeing, how art triggers the release of feelgood chemicals. I also discuss developing patience inspired by Jennifer Roberts famous. Three hour exercise with Harvard students and how slow looking fosters curiosity.

The episode also emphasizes the fact that everyone can take part in a slow looking experience as no art historical knowledge is required. Now while no one seems to know exactly where the term slow looking comes from, the first time I heard the phrase 'slow art' was in Carl Honoré's book in Praise of Slow published back in 2004. So that's over 20 years ago now, and I was lucky enough to have the chance to speak to Carl directly about his work.

Carl is a bestselling author, broadcaster two time Ted speaker and voice of the Slow Movement. And in episode 93, Carl shares his insights on the benefits of slowing down in every aspect of life. So our conversation centers around the slow movement and how slowness can rehumanize us. In a culture that values speed above everything else.

We also discuss how the slow movement isn't just about slowing down for its own sake, but it's about reclaiming our humanity in a culture that treats us like machines. And importantly, for our purposes, we explored how slow art can be an antidote to our fast-paced world and how museums are finding ways to create slow environments, to invite people to engage more deeply with art and objects. So do check out episode 93.

And another important influence has been phyl terry and Slow Art Day, which have been hugely influential in bringing slow art and slow looking into the mainstream. We have several episodes about Slow Art Day, exploring what it is, how it started, and its impact. So let's start with episode 46. What is Slow Art Day? So this is your primer on this international event that celebrates looking at art in a different way.

So Slow Art Day, if you don't know, is an annual event that encourages participants worldwide to look at and discuss art slowly. It happens every year in April. This episode explains the basic idea and the format of Slow art day events, which now happen in hundreds of venues all around the world. But where did this all start? So in episode 94, phyl terry, founder of Slow Art Day, shares the origin story, including the hour long experience with a single painting that started it all.

So our conversation explores how Slow Art Day has evolved over the years, and also introduces the idea of 'radical inclusivity'. The idea that anyone can engage with art without prior artistic knowledge, simply through the act of looking slowly and reflecting. So from this grassroots beginning, slow Art Day has really taken off over the years, and we have two great episodes exploring how different organizations have made it their own.

First in a recent episode, episode 1, 4 6, I talked with Tonia Dhaese and Armand Storcke about the church-based slow art day movement in Antwerp. So in that episode, we explore why churches provide ideal settings for slow looking and how the architecture, lighting and atmosphere naturally encourage contemplation.

And in episode 1, 2 6, slow looking at the Van Gogh Museum with Harma van Uffelen, we see how even one of the world's busiest museums can successfully implement slow looking practices and participate in Slow art day. So Harma is a curator of education at the Van Goff Museum and she shares how they developed a slow looking program for their Matthew Wong exhibition. I think what's particularly valuable about this episode, is that it addresses the common concern I hear from museums.

"We can't do slow looking because we are too busy". So the Van Gogh Museum proves it can be done. So listen to this episode to find out more, and as I said, all of the links. Will be in the show notes. Right. So let's continue. So we've covered the foundations of slow looking and seen how it's become a global movement through Slow Art Day. Now let's get practical. How do you actually implement slow looking in your educational programs and guided experiences?

So I have two key episodes that will help you with the nuts and bolts of making slow looking work in your context. So first up, episode 82, making space and time for slow looking. So this is one of my personal favorites because it addresses the most common concern I hear. "I don't have time for slow looking". So in this episode I bust some myths about what slow looking actually.

Is, explain why it's so key to engagement, and I show you how to incorporate it into any format, guided tours, educational programs, even online sessions. And I cover three main reasons why it's important to make space and time for slow looking, and I give you lots of practical strategies for embedding it as a fundamental part of all your programs. And the second episode focuses on giving slow looking some structure. This is episode 1, 3 6. What are questioning practices?

So why is structure helpful for slow looking? Well, slow looking can happen quite naturally, but having a framework behind it makes it more accessible for both facilitators, that's us, and our participants. So Questioning Practices are structured sets of questions or prompts that give our discussions a little bit of structure. These are flexible practices that allow you to bring your unique facilitation style to every interaction, but they also still provide a framework for deep engagement.

So this episode explains what Questioning Practices are, why they're important, and how they can actively support question use, and foster participation in your museum programs. And for even more practical tools, visit episode 75, How to Look at Art Slowly. This was the episode that shared my free resource guide of the same name. This offers lots and lots of different ways to look at art or objects in museums. So the guide covers static looking.

Movement, observation by drawing, observation by writing and view finders, and it's all coded for solo or for group use. So these are really helpful concrete techniques that you can use immediately to implement slow looking. And I have two other practical resources that you might find helpful. So first, my Slow Art Guide. It's a really user friendly two page guide offering six simple steps to guide you through the process of slow looking along with lots of helpful tips.

And I've also recently published a new free resource, 24 Simple Prompts for Slow Looking. This is a pocket size collection of really thoughtful ways to engage more deeply with art and objects in museums. You can print this one out and take it with you into the museum, and it's perfect for anyone wanting to slow down and really see what they're looking at. So again, all the links to these free resources will be going in today's show notes. So let's go a little bit deeper.

Once you've got the basics down, there are some deeper aspects of slow looking worth exploring, both in terms of advanced techniques and understanding how slow looking works in different social settings. So first up, episode 56.

So this episode is as much about how we as educators can learn to love so-called boring objects, as it is about how we can get our visitors to love objects that are less well known too. So here I share examples of two objects that only came to life for me once I had spent time with them. And at the end I give you the key takeaways on how they can teach us how to love boring objects.

So spending some time slow looking with objects that you are not immediately excited by, will I promise, transform the way you see them. Next in episode 27, an early guest conversation with Kenia Santos, it's a beautiful conversation. We talk about how slow looking can develop empathy. So Kenya shares how she keeps teenage students engaged for three hours in art classes and explores the connection between careful observation and understanding others.

So this episode shows how slow looking isn't just about seeing more, it's about feeling more too. And episode 1 3 2 slow looking and social interaction in museums with Sasha IG Deva. So in this episode, I'm talking to Sasha about her groundbreaking research on slow looking and social interaction in museums. So while slow looking has gained in popularity worldwide, there hasn't been much research on its effectiveness until now. So in this episode, we explored two studies.

One looking at slow looking online. And the other is the first large scale experiment investigating how social interaction impacts the museum experience. So this episode provides the research backing for why group slow looking experiences are so powerful. But slow looking isn't just about the eyes. Slow looking is really about all of the senses.

Add in episode 1 2 9 I talked to Cecilie Skøtt about how to engage students with classical music through a blend of philosophical questioning and slow listening. So Cecilia is a mediation designer at the Carl Nielsen Museum in Denmark, where they've been using an open questioning mindset and philosophical dialogue to engage students with classical music.

So this episode shows how the principles of slow engagement can extend beyond visual art into music and sound involving all of our senses in deeper museum experiences. And slow looking is increasingly being used as a practice approach and mindset to work with specific groups around the world. In episode 1 2 1 I talk with another Cecilie, Cecilie Monrad, art health manager at Fredericksburg Museum in Copenhagen about, see, listen, talk.

This is their unique 15 week slow looking program that helps young psychiatric service users in their recovery. So we explore in this episode how the program creates connections and establishes a safe space and a brave space for participants through a trauma sensitive framework. The episode demonstrates how slow looking can be thoughtfully adapted to serve vulnerable communities, showing the powerful impact slow looking can have both inside and outside the museum.

So there you have it, your complete guide to slow looking through 20 episodes in our back catalog. So whether you are just getting started or looking to deepen your practice, you now have a curated roadmap to transform how you might engage with art and objects. Now the beauty of slow looking is that you can start anywhere. So pick the episodes that speak to your current needs.

Maybe you want to understand the basics or perhaps you're ready to implement it with different groups, or perhaps you're curious about how it's being used around the world. So if you are new to slow looking, start with episode two. If you want to convince others of its value, go straight to episode 41. If you're ready to implement it in your work episodes 82 and 1 3 6 will get you there.

If you're curious about the global movement, dive into the Slow Art Day episodes and don't forget to download those free resources. I mentioned the Slow Art Guide, how to Look at Art Slowly, and my brand new 24 slow looking prompts. These give you the practical tools to get going immediately. So slow down, look closer, and see what you discover. Happy, slow looking.

And if you want a speedy way to find all of these episodes mentioned today, I know there are a lot of them., Go to my new page on my website with a complete list of all of the back catalog episodes. It's called every single episode of The Art Engager podcast. And if you find this podcast helpful in your practice, please consider supporting us. Creating this podcast twice a month involves real costs. And the best way to help sustain this work is through a monthly Patreon subscription.

If that's not possible, even a one-time donation makes a difference. I'll put the details in the show notes. Thank you to everyone who has already generously supported the podcast. Your contributions make such a difference. Finally, don't forget to visit my website to learn more about The Art Engager book available now. Wherever books are sold. That's it for today. Thank you so much for joining us. See you next time. Thank you for listening to The Art Engager podcast with me, Claire Bown.

You can find more art engagement resources by visiting my website, thinkingmuseum.com, and you can also find me on Instagram at Thinking Museum, where I regularly share tips and tools on how to bring art to life and engage your audience. If you've enjoyed this episode, please share with others and subscribe to the show on your podcast player of choice. Thank you so much for listening, and I'll see you next time.