Friday 8th November at October Gallery
Slow Art and the effect of giving attention
With Susan Moore, Daniel Eskenazi and Dr Rebecca Chamberlain.
What happens to you when you give attention to a work of art? What happens to your brain when looking at – even touching – an object with deep concentration? And is there a correlation between this and other forms of meditation and their psychological effects?
These questions are at the very heart of our understanding of art and why we value it. It also touches on the ways in which art is made available for us to experience in museums. Is it possible to give attention to works of art in exhibitions? Anyone who has tried to look seriously at a painting in any recent ‘blockbuster’ exhibition will understand how often an exhibition’s success – in visitor numbers – exponentially lowers our ability to engage with the objects on display.
In this ground-breaking event in our series of Art and Mind Symposia we are going to present our guests with both a direct experience of works of art – a handling session guided by an expert – and an analysis by a neuroscientist of what is actually happening in our brains as we contemplate and consider the pieces before us.
It is a subject of enormous importance to artists, neuroscientists and viewers alike but should also be a concern for curators, architects and exhibition designers.
All this with our usual socialising dinner.
Our special guests:
Susan Moore. Associate Editor of Apollo. An art historian, art critic and saleroom columnist, she also writes regularly for the Financial Times and founded the not-for-profit Slow Art Workshop in 2017.
Dr Rebecca Chamberlain’s research aims to understand artistic expertise and aesthetic perception from a psychological and a neuroscientific point of view. She completed her PhD in psychology at University College London in 2013, followed by a post-doctoral research fellowship in Professor Johan Wagemans’ Gestalt Perception group at KU Leuven in Belgium. She joined Goldsmiths as a lecturer in 2017.
Daniel Eskenazi is a dealer in ancient Chinese art and contemporary ink painting. His family business was established in London in 1960. The gallery has held over 90 exhibitions in their premises, all accompanied by a scholarly catalogue and has sold to over 80 museums around the world. Since the early 1990s he has also been creating photographic work revolving around a philosophical inquiry into the spirit of nature and its connection with man. His photographs have been exhibited widely.
The event details are as follows:
Friday 8th November 2019
Art and Mind Symposium 32
Slow Art and the effect of giving attention
With Susan Moore, Daniel Eskenazi and Dr Rebecca Chamberlain
at October Gallery, 24 Old Gloucester St, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 3AL
7.00 – Arrival and drink
7.20 – Introduction by Susan Moore
7.30 – Handling session with Daniel Eskenazi
8.10 – Dinner
9.00 – Dr Rebecca Chamberlain
9.20 – Discussion
10.00 – Finish
Please bring £25 cash with you on the night.
Please remember that food is ordered in advance and has to be paid for. Please let me know as soon as you can if you need to cancel. Late cancellations and no-shows will have to be paid for.
It is essential to book your places from this email address, letting me know any dietary requirements: garry.kennard@btopenworld.com.