Meditation is a training of our attention that helps us to be in the present moment in a grounded and mindful way. Combining the experience of looking at art and meditating could deepen our understanding of an art work, and be beneficial for our mind.
Alina Kharchyk
Explanation of the initial position
Lisa F. Smith and Jeffrey K. Smith – both professors at the University of Otago – had been studying how visitors experience museums for years. How much time were the people strolling the halls of the Met spending looking at art? Working with a volunteer, the couple monitored 150 people as they looked at six paintings from the museum’s collection.
They found that the mean time spent looking a painting was 27.2 seconds, while the median time was 17 seconds, and the longest time was 3 minutes, 48 seconds. How could we slow down the visitors and intense their experience of art?
Meditation is a training of our attention that helps us to be in the present moment in a grounded and mindful way. Combining the experience of looking at art and meditating could deepen our understanding of an art work, and be beneficial for our mind.
My project was inspired by The Rothko Chapel in Houston, Texas. Founded by John and Dominique de Menil, the interior serves not only as a chapel, but also as a major work of modern art: on its walls are fourteen paintings by Mark Rothko in varying hues of black.
Goal of the project
To engage with art through meditation and mindfulness with the help of the technology of AR.
Project description
Using the technology of AR, museums and curators can change the perspective of looking at art. Passing by the art works at the exhibition, visitors often do not pay attention to the details. The technologies like AR could make their visit much more unique.
My project Meditation and Modern Art: Mark Rothko AR-Chapel suggests a different look at Rothko’s abstractions through meditation and personal feeling rather then just an exhibition text.
Step 1: Using a tablet, phone or VR-glasses, you can login in the AR-powered app artverse.
Step 2: Put on the earphones.
Step 3: Point the camera towards the painting Rust and Blue.
Step 4: The audio of guided meditation starts, and you can see also the close-ups of the painting. It is also possible to just listen to the audio whilst looking at the original.
Brief reflection on the strengths and weaknesses of the project
| STRENGTHS | WEAKNESSES |
| Possibility to use and apply it at home and in every museum/gallery | The technology of AR could have sometimes a technical problems |
| It brings together education and health | The museums would need to provide devices or the visitors would need to download an app |
| It could be applied to every other artist/art work | |
| People without the background in Art History could better perceive the art works through their own feelings |