{"id":1548,"date":"2023-03-10T02:29:34","date_gmt":"2023-03-10T06:29:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/35-ways-to-look-at-art\/"},"modified":"2023-03-10T02:29:34","modified_gmt":"2023-03-10T06:29:34","slug":"35-ways-to-look-at-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/parmaks.com\/Resources\/35-ways-to-look-at-art\/","title":{"rendered":"35 Ways to Look at Art"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Profit<\/a>
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Visiting a museum to look at art can be an intimidating or overwhelming experience.<\/p>\n

Most of us aren\u2019t experts, and we might think that we\u2019re not looking at the art in the \u201cright\u201d way. But there\u2019s no one right way to look at art!<\/p>\n

When I was writing my new book Life in Five Senses<\/a><\/em>, I decided to challenge myself to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art every day for a year. (I\u2019m extremely fortunate to live within walking distance of the Met.)<\/p>\n

That year is over, and now I\u2019m on my third year of going to the Met every day. I love these visits! One nice thing: because I go every day, and I\u2019ve joined as a member, my visits can be as long or as short as I want.<\/p>\n

As I made my visits, I found many ways to help me look at the art with fresh eyes.\u00a0<\/span>Whether you\u2019re visiting a small local gallery or a\u00a0<\/span><\/span>huge\u00a0museum, and whether you\u2019re a frequent art appreciator or looking for somewhere to start, try these suggestions\u00a0to help you slow down, notice details, and experience art in a new way.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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  1. Search for a specific color. For instance, you might choose a particular Pantone color, such as the Color of the Year, and look for it.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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    1. Look for things that surprise you\u2014in the Met, I was surprised to see how often the Buddha is depicted with a mustache (but why not?)<\/li>\n
    2. <\/u>Imagine what you would create to sell in the gift shop.<\/u><\/u><\/li>\n
    3. <\/u>Walk across the room to look at an object from a distance.<\/u><\/u><\/li>\n
    4. Stand near to an object to examine it closely.<\/li>\n
    5. <\/u>Look at a single object for thirty minutes.<\/u><\/u><\/li>\n
    6. <\/u>Look in the object\u2019s corners and edges.<\/u><\/u><\/li>\n
    7. Buy a postcard of an object, then compare the postcard to the actual object.<\/li>\n
    8. <\/u>Read the label.<\/u><\/u><\/li>\n
    9. <\/u>To look more carefully at a color, make a small circle with your fingers and isolate it from its context (a color often isn\u2019t what we assume it is).<\/u><\/u><\/li>\n
    10. Identify distinctions among similar items\u2014Greek vases, Egyptian amulets.<\/li>\n
    11. <\/u>Look at an artwork in a hand mirror, to see it reduced and reversed.<\/u><\/u><\/li>\n
    12. <\/u>Squint at an artwork, so details vanish to reveal a simpler composition of shape and color.<\/u><\/u><\/li>\n
    13. <\/u>Hold up a hand to block one part of the work, to see how its absence affects everything else.<\/u><\/u><\/li>\n
    14. Search for a tiny detail that\u2019s easy to overlook.<\/li>\n
    15. Listen to music as you look at the art, to create a soundtrack to the experience.<\/li>\n
    16. Read a book, watch a movie, or see a play that mentions an artwork, then go look at it for yourself\u2014such as the novels The Goldfinch<\/em><\/a>, Girl with a Pearl Earring<\/a>, <\/em>or The Second Mrs. Gioconda<\/em><\/a>.<\/li>\n
    17. <\/u>Use the audio guide.<\/u><\/u><\/li>\n
    18. Look for what space has been left empty.<\/li>\n
    19. Search for a particular element throughout the collection\u2014at the Met, I look for swans, items with supernatural powers, mistakes, skulls, frogs.<\/li>\n
    20. <\/u>Examine the frame. <\/u><\/u><\/li>\n
    21. Look for any anything that breaks the frame.<\/li>\n
    22. Look for shifts in scale.<\/li>\n
    23. <\/u>Look at the \u201cnegative space,\u201d the space around an artwork or an image depicted by the work.<\/u><\/u><\/li>\n
    24. Pay attention to how the soundscape of an area\u2014noisy, quiet, echoing, muffled\u2014influences the way you see.<\/li>\n
    25. <\/u>Look for triangles, squares, rectangles, circles.<\/u><\/u><\/li>\n
    26. <\/u>In portraits, look for the \u201ccatchlight\u201d in a sitter\u2019s eyes\u2014the tiny white specks that show light reflecting off the shiny eyes of the subject.<\/u><\/u><\/li>\n
    27. <\/u>Ask other people to tell you their favorite artworks, then go look at them (we\u2019re always interested to know what others find interesting).<\/u><\/u><\/li>\n
    28. Look for particularly spectacular color combinations.<\/li>\n
    29. Consider the relationship of the title to the artwork\u2014I\u2019ve always loved the painting and title of Charles Demuth\u2019s I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold.<\/em><\/li>\n
    30. <\/u>Puzzle out the meaning of symbols and iconography.<\/u><\/u><\/li>\n
    31. <\/u>Look for elements of nature in the museum<\/span>\u2019s galleries: water, plants, sunlight.<\/u><\/u><\/li>\n
    32. <\/u>Find five pieces featured on items in the gift shop, then go look at the actual pieces.<\/u><\/u><\/li>\n
    33. In each room, choose your favorite artwork.<\/li>\n
    34. Create something based on a piece of art that resonates with you\u2014a sketch, a story, a reimagining\u2014or simply take notes on your thoughts and observations.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      During my visits, I really enjoyed giving myself these kinds of visual assignments. I noticed more, and I had more fun, as I walked from Egyptian Art to Arms and Armor to the Damascus Room.<\/p>\n

      If you\u2019d like more ideas about how to look at art, check out \u201cDon\u2019t \u2018get\u2019 art? You might be looking at it wrong.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

      I like any exercise that gives me more appreciation for the world around me.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section><\/div>\n

      The post 35 Ways to Look at Art<\/a> appeared first on Gretchen Rubin<\/a>.<\/p>\n

      \"Profit<\/a>
      <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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