Attention to detail

January 14, 2016

Some years ago, when my daughter was a toddler, I used to read her the children’s story “Good Night Moon.” She would really enjoy the repetition, the rhyme and especially our little game of finding the tiny mouse on every page. Later on, the game extended to other stories, as we started to look for different small details in other picture books, and make up stories about characters or objects outside the main plot.

This attention to detail, the same kind kids need to build a puzzle or to find Waldo in a multitude of people, is also a very important quality to bring when observing art. “The truth of the story lies in the details”, says writer Paul Auster and that wisdom applies to a particular way kids have of enjoying art.

Details require time and attention, passion and care. They open different doors to perception, imagination and thinking. They go hand by hand with memory, for we will never forget the story or the picture where we found them.

Details are like hidden secrets we whisper in each other’s ears; the first thing we finally see after the morning fog fades away.