LLAA Docent Training Assignment 1

Active Looking Exercise

Due Thursday, January 24

You will complete three Looking Activities and a reflective summary, and submit them
together. For this exercise, select a work of art that you have never seen or have spent little
time with. Do not read any related wall text or information about the work before you begin.
Take a seat a comfortable distance from the artwork and prepare to spend about 45 minutes
on this activity.

1: First Impressions, 3-5 minutes

Let your brain find meaning as your eyes roam. During your reflection, write down or sketch
any observations that pop into your mind in a stream-of-conscious response. There is no right
or wrong way to reflect on art or to do this activity.

Some thoughts to help you along the way:

 Move your eyes around the entire piece.
 Take note of at least ten interesting details that you can return to later.
 Look away for a few seconds and then look back. What caught your eye first?
 Describe patterns, shapes and colors.
 What is the viewer’s point of view in the piece? (the viewer’s physical position: above,
below, or at eye level with the subject)
 Let your eyes roam so your brain can begin to create meaning.

2: Broaden, 5-10 minutes

Encourage your brain to find additional meaning as your eyes roam. As you begin to broaden
your way of looking at the work, you will start to discover messages that the artist has left for
you.

Helpful ideas:
 Ask yourself: “What’s going on here?”
 Look for surprises.
 Look for mood in the work.
 How does the work make you feel?
 Look for motion.
 Look for time or place.
 Look for cultural connections.
 Look for symbolism or meaning.

3: Deepen, 10-15 minutes

Using the same piece of art, deliberately look for deeper meaning. Seek out puzzles or
mysteries in the work and explore methods that could reveal the answers to you.

Questions you might consider:

 How did the artist get that effect?
 How does that element relate to or affect the rest of the work?
 How would the work be different if _________ were different?
 How does the line, color, composition, etc. affect my thinking about the work?

4: Reflective Summary: Reflect on how you discovered this artwork. Where did your
observations take you? What questions were difficult to answer? Did anything about this
experience surprise you?

Adapted from an activity in The Intelligent Eye, David Perkins. The Getty Education Institute
for the Arts Occasional Paper, 1994.