HDo you often look up at the sky instead of looking down at the black mirror you might be reading this column on? Will you read this page to the end? How many tabs did you have open today? How many of you interact with other humans on the train without looking at your phone? I’m not one to judge. I, like everyone else, am obsessed with the release of dopamine. But these days, as the world becomes increasingly disillusioned and divided, it seems more urgent than ever to look outward rather than inward and pay attention in the ways that are most valuable.
I remembered seeing this floor rot a tapestry by US-based artist Quaysha Wood at Salon 94 in New York. It shows a woman slumped, exhausted, or “rotting in bed,” as if her white eyes were illuminated by the screen. Surrounding her are dozens of tabs with slogans emblematic of the culture of 2024 (like “Summer of the Kid”), but somehow already outdated, lost in the speed of an internet-driven world. It feels like it’s closed. She seems exhausted. I get tired looking at her. And her fatigue is common.
In a new radio series, desire to be distracted Matthew Said explores the state of our attention span. The debate surrounding this issue has been around for thousands of years, with medieval monks furious about the technology of “books,” but it feels especially applicable in our digital age. Research shows that the average amount of time people spend watching something on screen is just 40 seconds or less, an 80% decrease since 2004.
Distraction comes in many forms, but the problem today, Saeed tells us, is uncontrolled exploitation by big tech companies. They use sophisticated algorithms to use more data than ever before and turn our ever-longer scrolls into cash. This promotes addiction and stunts brain growth, especially in children. Slowly, we seem to be losing our positivity, losing our creativity, losing our connection, and losing our humanity.
This is not to say that modern digital technology should be abolished. Great things come from that. It’s global connectivity. Community building, especially in subcultures. to cause movement. A platform to give people a voice and spread joy, beauty, and knowledge. But we need to be aware of the more sinister aspects built into its design to keep us fascinated. Wood’s Tapestry is an unsettling vision of what this world could become, or already is.
It’s worth recognizing that Bed Rot held my attention longer than a typical screen, affirming the power of art to make viewers stop, stare, and think. Just as conversations are more meaningful in person than on a screen, it’s very hard to look away when something physical is right in front of you.
I believe that art can help counteract the negative effects of smartphone scrolling. Now more than ever, we need art that offers a world-changing perspective to make us believe in humanity again. Land artist Nancy Holt’s work, for example, reminds us of the mysteries of the natural world and the atmosphere above.
Leaning and Drained…Bed Rot by Qualeasha Wood. Photo: Courtesy of Artist and Salon 94 © Qualeasha Wood
Lying in Utah’s Great Basin Desert is Holt’s Sun Tunnel. It’s four giant concrete tubes, tall enough to walk on, facing each other in an X-shape. During the day, you can see the vast arid land and sky through the tunnel. If the sky is clear, the light shines mottled through the holes in the pipes placed in the constellations of Capricorn, Columba, Draco, and Perseus, making it seem as if you are walking on the stars. Twice a year, on the summer and winter solstice, the sun aligns perfectly with the tunnel, allowing light to shine through.
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Holt, who passed away in 2014, uses the earth and space as tools to highlight the vast beauty of the natural world by providing a vessel for viewing it. Her work reaffirms the fact that land, sea, sky, and human connections are all there, competing for our attention, but not for capitalist profit.
Author Iris Murdoch said in an interview: We create a small personal world and remain trapped within it. Great art brings freedom and allows us to take pleasure in seeing things that are not ourselves. ”
Art reminds us to look up from the little world we create on the black mirror in our pockets. It helps us understand our place in the universe and look out into the expanse rather than at ourselves as filtered through technology. It’s time to regain our attention. And to give it to what is worthy and important to us.
Source: www.theguardian.com
