Reading: Slow Looking

Tishman, Shari, (2017) Slow Looking: The Art and Practice of Learning Through Observation, New York; Taylor and Francis

PP. 1-7, Chapter One, Introduction: Slow Matters

Notes, in chronological order.

This exert contains chapter one of Slow Looking: The Art and Practice of Learning Through Observation, which an introduction to the book.
The chapter is titled Introduction: Slow Matters, and introduces the premise of Tishmans argument; how slow looking, meaning: patient, immersive attention to content, is more beneficial to learning than the delivery of high-speed information. The blurb explains that slow looking 'can produce active cognitive opportunities for meaning-making and critical thinking.'

Drawing thoughts on my subject of interest...

Tishman starts by explaining that slow looking can involve all of the senses, not just the eye. He explains that it is a way of gaining knowledge and understanding the world:
"It helps us discern complexities that can't be grasped quickly, and it involves a distinctive set of skills and dispositions that have a different center of gravity than those involved in other modes,"
He is comparing this to receiving outside surface level information. I instantly thought of books and my interest in why we continue to choose to read physical printed books instead of adapting to digital books. Perhaps it is to do with the multi-sensory 'slow looking' nature they provide. Rather than looking at a flat, bright screen, reading a printed bound book provides a different experience that involve more senses and dispositions. It requires more from the reader, going below surface level.

Thoughts on the way we value things...

He then gives an example of school children looking at a painting and being asked to carry out tasks or answer questions, rather than just sit and look and be told information.
This made me think of prompt cards you can get for when you are out in nature. They guide you on using your senses to experience nature beyond just seeing it or walking through it. It instructs you on how to engage with it get, gaining more of a connection with the environment. 
This reminded me of what  James Fox said in his book talk; 
However, if there is a need for these cards, there must be a problem in that we are struggling to feel connected to our environment. I think this could be universal; perhaps we are feeling disconnected from objects as well.
The children had to investigate it themselves, create their own ideas and use their imaginations. 'No amount of outside information could have replaced the insights they gained.' We form a new personal and independent form of connection. We use our own imagination and create our own paths. Like a journey, we find our way to the information. It is a personal experience, more valuable than skipping this journey and receiving the information straight away.
"the more you look, the more you see; the more you see, the more engaged you become."

Thoughts on pace...

He talks about the rising of the slow movement, where many folks have started to do activities in a slowly practiced way. He talks about how this movement started with an event that celebrated slow food; 'local foods, sustainable food production, and the slow enjoyment of the traditional pleasures of the table' in order to protest the proposal of building a McDonalds in the area. Since then, many other slow movements have occurred in other activities, such as art, education, journalism,
I especially liked how he describes the slow movement as doing things 'at a human pace.'
He notes how they are 'more immersive, prolonged experiences that unfold slowly over time' which is exactly how a printed physical book could be considered, in contrast to a fast-paced convenient experience of a digital book that have more of an instant quality about them. One could compare a book to traditional slow food, and a digital book to McDonalds.

Often people see slow looking as 'characterized by a quiet, meditative mood', however Tishman states, 'prolonged observation can be an energetic, lively affair.' I agree and believe that this is the experience for readers with a book. Although it may look like they are peaceful, quiet and meditative, there is a lot going on in the imagination, emotions and energy of the reader. What is interesting is that those you see reading on a digital device are not seen as having this 'quiet meditative mood', but perhaps seen as being focused and occupied. This is because they have chosen convenience over romance. They have something they want to get done, to be productive about reading. It is less about the experience and more bout accessing the contents.

In the text, he acknowledges how digital methods still have their place in learning. But slow looking offers other opportunities that digital may miss.
"Slow looking is an important counterbalance to the natural human tendency toward fast looking. Most of the time, we scan our visual environments rapidly, unreflectively taking in whatever surface information is readily available and briskly moving on."

This quote explains how we approach everyday life in such a fast pace way. By taking the time to be slow, you engage in a deeper way rather than just surface level. 

Discussion:

  • American writer from Indian heritage.
  • Cultural way of being - to rush.
  • By taking time, being slow, you engage in a deeper way.
  • How can we consider lack of senses, such as being blind, to design? E.g. the braille book idea punching holes and using different papers.
  • Accessibility and bookbinding. It is so easy to incorporate with embossing and braise and the opportunities of the flexibility of the structure. How can we help blind people read. Research this further.
  • Printmaking can also be easily made more tactile with embossing.
  • Hole punching; the mess it makes but the impact it has on tactile readers. The mess of how treat those with disabilities. Instead of keeping everything perfect, what is accepted, the norm, ruining it so that all can enjoy and experience.
  • Paper is a very useful material for malleability and the opportunities it has.
  • An experience that is had, but not able to be shared with others, is precious.
  • Intention. What mindset we are in when we approach things = how we value them. What we want to get out of them.
  • Read the Artists Way.
  • A way of making something interest, even if you are not.
  • The commodity of existence.