Slow View

Beginning with Slow Food’s emergence in Italy in 1986, slow subcultures have sought to respond to society’s frantic pace of living and destructive reliance on time-saving technologies. In museums, viewers spend an average of three to 15 seconds looking at artworks. Too often, larger museums despair that these fleeting moments come in the midst of blockbuster crowds armed with selfie sticks. MAM’s Slow View series encourages the mindfulness of intentional looking through focused installations of collection artworks and unique loans.

Slow viewing values meditative stillness as an antidote to such restless experiences and as a path to passion, creativity, and connection. Viewers are invited to break from their routines, sit quietly with these artworks, and rediscover the rewards of awareness, observation, and engagement. With each installation, MAM will host a monthly event for viewers to contemplate a work, and then participate in a casual, facilitated discussion and writing activity about their individual experiences. 

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website