Tate Modern recommends "looking slowly" images for an hour to better appreciate

We had slow food and slow television.

At present, an art gallery has published a guide on "slowness" in the fight against the frantic pace of modern life.

Spurred by information that art lovers spent as little as eight seconds watching each piece of art, the Tate Modern encourages members of the public to watch one for an hour.

This will give them enough time to better appreciate the art, he says.

Tate joins galleries and museums around the world to celebrate today's Slow Art Day.

The annual event, which has been taking place since 2010, aims to have galleries visit special tours to encourage people to change their viewing habits. The guide, which is published on the gallery's website, says: "The important thing is to choose a work that attracts you, intrigues, attracts or frustrates you.

"Spend your time really knowing a few works. Try to think of the gallery as a menu rather than a list of things to do. "

The guide recommends that people take at least ten minutes to enjoy the work, but some people may take up to an hour. It says: "To keep track of the time, set a silent timer on your phone or just try counting the number of breaths."

Visitors are advised to be comfortable on a particular bench or stool and not to worry if they do not have first ideas about the work. It also encourages them to go back to a specific room on another day, to see if their response to work is different.

The guide also says that people should not try to silence the noise of other visitors to the museum.

He says, "Do not do the basics to rule out what's going on around you. Do not be put off by those squeaky shoes or by the noise of the chatting visitors, that's part of the pleasure of looking slowly. "

Susan Moore, founder of Slow Art Workshop, said people had to tear up the body of rules in the art.

She said: "There is this tacit museum etiquette where everyone stands in a bow of reverence about six feet from a board, so nobody looks at it properly and I think you need enough time and space to watch. "

Other institutions participating in Slow Art Day include the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Natural History Museum and the Yorkshire Sculpture Park.