In my opinion, active looking (sometimes also called close looking) is the most important skill any art lover can possibly cultivate. Why? Because art is visual (obviously), you need to look at it closely and with attention in order to fully receive the information it offers you. All the meaning and significance of any artwork come from what is visible in it, so all the knowledge and detailed analysis in the world isn’t useful if you haven’t first taken the time to really observe in detail.
Fortunately, active looking isn’t very difficult to learn. Anyone with sight already has all the tools they need to be great at active looking. However, it does take some practice, because it’s a very different way of viewing the world that what most of us do in everyday life. And the good news is that you can practice on anything, not just artworks, and the skills you’ll gain can help you better appreciate everything from a painting to a sunset.
Active Looking
- Active looking means looking at an image in a way that lets you absorb the maximum amount of visual information from it. It’s the first and most important skill for art viewing.
- Because art conveys everything visually, and you can’t expect to get anything from the art if you don’t pick up the information it offers you and let it sink in.
- It takes time, but that’s not enough. Just staring at something for a long time does not guarantee you’re actually seeing it. It would be easy to start thinking about something else and just stare without really getting any benefit from that time. This is where the “active” part comes in. You have to actively and intentionally observe and discover visual things during the time you’re looking at the artwork.
- In this way, active looking is kind of like mindfulness. If you’ve ever tried mindfulness, you know that you don’t just let your mind go anywhere. You’re specifically paying attention to whatever you want to be mindful of. This is pretty much the same.
- Active looking doesn’t require any specific skill. We all have the ability innately as long as we can see, but it does take a bit of practice, because it’s a very different way of looking at the world than we’re used to. Once you have the skill, you can just as easily use it to enjoy non-art sights, like landscapes or sunsets.
How do you practice active looking?
- It’s super easy to practice active looking. On any visual image you see around you.
- There’s no special technique and no “right way”. It’s more of a frame of mind. The key is to keep an open mind and continue to explore the artwork with your eyes. That’s the most important thing. Don’t force it to work in any particular way. You’ll figure out what works best for you with practice.
- Take the attitude that the image is filled with countless mysteries, and you want to discover every single one. Don’t assume that your initial impression is either correct or comprehensive, since the most interesting parts don’t always present themselves right away. Notice whatever you notice, but then keep looking and dig deeper. Even if the artwork initially seems pretty simple and straightforward, there’s always something else to find and appreciate. But you can’t know what that is until you actually see it.
- Active looking takes time. How much time you want to give it is up to you. Obviously, you can’t look at every artwork in the museum this way. You have to pick and choose.
- Keep in mind that we aren’t analyzing or interpreting anything here. For now, we want to know what stuff is in the artwork, but we don’t want to worry about what it means just yet. The stuff you notice through active looking will help you do all these analyses and interpretations later on, but one thing at a time. Notice first; ask questions later.
- It’s also not necessary to label, identify, or categorize anything just yet. You don’t have to be able to verbalize what you observe. After you’ve done your active looking, it can be nice to record some thoughts to help solidify things in your mind, but if you are thinking about what you’ll write down too much, you’ll get distracted from looking.
Try it yourself
- Look at an artwork for a comfortable and typical amount of time. However long you would probably spend with it ordinarily. Record your observations briefly.
- Then, go back to the same artwork and actively look at it for a solid five minutes. After that time is up, go back and record your observations again. See how much more you got out of it the second time? That’s the beauty and power of active looking.
- If you’re up for it, you could try again for even longer. (Obviously pick an artwork you are happy to look at for so much time.)
- You don’t even need to use artworks. You can practice by looking at any image or object for longer than you usually would, with the aim to observe as much as possible. What “new” (but not really new) things do you suddenly see in the same people, places, and things you thought you already knew everything about? Even simple things can be surprisingly rich and complex when you look at them this way.
Learn to think like an art historian.
Go further
This post is a teaser for The Art Museum Insider, an online course that will teach you to be a confident and empowered art viewer by evaluating what you see. If you want to go beyond active looking and learn to make sense of all the visual components your new skill helps you to notice – from the colors and lines to the style and subject matter – join The Art Museum Insider today.
