First Fridays

(Current)

Presented by Strother School facilitator Eve Mitchell

And a warm-up exercise with Jahony Germosen, Conjuring Sanctuary

(Transcript)

Attention Sanctuary

Material:

Attention Sanctuary Working Group: Sanctuary Guidelines

Thinking on new strategies for networked collective action, with special guest Etienne Turpin.

Emoji Translation Exercise

(Transcript)

Smiley emoji, double red exclamation mark emoji, earth emoji (emojis, attention, and climate in text beneath).

Material:

Emojis, Attention, and Climate Presentation Slides

A conversation with Elisa Tamarkin on attention, relevance, and irrelevance, and an exercise in "Silence as Speech."

Plus, a special report from Friend of Attention Julian Chehirian on the "searchlight" attention-effects in his collaborative installation at this year's Venice Biennial.

(Transcript)

 

Screenshot of a quote from Emerson, "You're reading is irrelevant ..."

 

A conversation with musicologist Natalie Miller on immersive soundscapes.

And, an exercise in listening and looking, along with the video for the exercise.

(Transcript)

3d rendered scene of sun shining through leaf in a forested glade

Material:

Presentation slides for Attention, Music, and Immersion

 

A conversation with critic and journalist Sophie Haigney on How Group Chats Rule the World!

An exercise in Mapping the Chat. And the Maps of the Chat!

(The Group Chat)

Cartoon figures falling into and pulling each other out of large balloon like text bubbles.

Material:

Sophie Haigney, How Group Chats Rule the World

 

Reflections on the Rhetorics of Attention with friend of attention, David Landes!

And, an exercise in Alethic Attention.

(Transcript)

A still from Jeff Whetstone's The Batture Ritual (2018) depicting a boat on the Mississippi River
A still from Jeff Whetstone's The Batture Ritual (2018)

Material:

Mark Twain, Two Ways of Seeing a River

Rhetorics of Attention Collaborative Working Doc

A discussion with artist, writer, educator, Jenny Odell.

Orb of Ambivalence from Jenny Odell's Neo Surreal 2017 Project
Orb of Ambivalence, Jenny Odell

 

A discussion on "Dark Patterns", and the new lawsuits and lawmaking aimed at the attention frackers with Mihir Kshirsagar.

Plus, an exercise in be|hold|ing with An-Li Bogan.

(Transcript)

Excerpt from Tim Wu's book, Blindspot the Attention Economy and the Law

Material:

What Makes Dark Patterns Dark?, Arunesh Mathur, Jonathan Mayer, Mihir Kshirsagar

Dark Patterns Slides

An exploration of methods of attention to inner experience with Professor Russel T. Hurlburt.

An exercise in attending to Spaces in Thought.

(Transcript)

Depiction of Inner experience, thoughts in text circling in and out of a boy's head.

 

A conversation with former Google-strategist, philosopher and author James Williams.

Plus, a warm up exercise w/ special guest Jac Mullen.

(Transcript)

ai-generated-attention

 

A conversation hosted by Jeff Dolven and Matthew Spellberg on the Strother School of Radical Attention.

Warm-up exercise led by Ana Marques.

And, a toolkit exercise.

(Transcript)

Strother School

 

A conversation with Yves Citton on attention and curiosity.

Questions on Curiosity

(Transcript)

Citton, crt wall

 

A discussion with Caleb Smith on his new book Thoreau's Axe: Distraction and Discipline in American Culture.

W/ special guest Jared Rankin, an exercise in drifting with the clouds ...

(Transcript)

Thoreau's Axe Cover Art

Material:

Caleb Smith, excerpt from Thoreau's Axe

Henry David Thoreau, excerpt from Journal

Micro-documentary film-screenings on diverse practices of attention, with shorts from filmmaker and FoA intern Dylan Liu, and a conversation on the Friends of Attention coalition-building effort.

Plus, a filmic warm-up from Claudia Claremi!

(Transcript)

Still from FoA micro-documentary

 

A discussion with Jamie Kreiner on her new book The Wandering Mind: What Medieval Monks Tell Us about Distraction.

Plus, a Centripetal ASMR exercise with Ana Marques, and David B. Landes on The Attention Trove ...

(Transcript)

sexalis-cherubin

Material:

John Cassian, Collationes excerpt

Professor Kreiner's "ANGEL WING MNEMONIC MEDITATION EXERCISE"

The Centripetal ASMR Spirographic Centering Meditation:

Courtesy of the 2020 ESTAR(SER) residency at the Watermill Center - "Wondergraphic Distraction"

Wondergraphic Distraction, Part I:

Wondergraphic Distraction, Part II:

 

A discussion with Stefanie Hessler on the forthcoming Attention, Algorithms, and Social Justice exhibition.

W/ special guest Stevie Knauss, and a January intervention protocol.

(Transcript)

Attention, Algorithms, and Social Justice

 

Presented by: Eva Nagao

(Transcript)

hope

Material:

Excerpt from an interview with Mariame Kaba

Attention as the Discipline of Care

 

Presented by: Sal Randolph

W/ special guest David Richardson, and an exercise in mutual dreaming.

(Transcript)

dance of attention

Material:

Sal Randolph, an excerpt from The Uses of Art

 

Presented by special guest: Silvia Caprioglio Panizza

W/ special guest Daphne Barile, and an August exercise.

(Transcript)

ethics of attention

 

A conversation with artist Lex Brown about love, politics, art, education, and her participation in the "Gramsci Monument" project.

Love and Politics

Material:

Lex Brown, "Monument Time" 

A screening of Statues Hardly Ever Smile (1971).

Followed by Q&A with producer: Kent Garrett, author of The Last Negroes at Harvard (2020), and a founding member of Black Journal (1968) and "Chamba Productions" (1971).

 

Statues hardly smile

Material:

Exercise of the Zoom Buddha (in the spirit of Nam June Paik)

A collaborative conversation on curriculum for the upcoming Spring 2022 Attention Labs.

Facilitated by: Lane Stroud and Kristin Lawler

(Transcript)

Material:

Brainstorming Curriculum Powerpoint

An Exercise with the Body

A collaborative conversation on curriculum for the upcoming Spring 2022 Attention Labs.

Facilitated by: Marcus Ryan

W/ special guest Diego Zamalloa-Chion and "Scenes of Attention."

(Transcript)

scene of attention

 

Presented by: Sonali Chakravarti and Lane Stroud

(Transcript)

tuberose

Material:

Rachel Syme "On the Nose" from The New Yorker, Vol. XCVI, Iss. 46

A collaborative conversation on the "Handbook for the Attention Liberation Movements" working text drafted as part of the ongoing work of the Politics of Attention Workshops.

(Transcript)

anthesis

Materials:

Friends of Attention, working text of "The Handbook for the Attention Liberation Movements"

Presented by: Aaron E. Hirsh

W/ special guest Jared Rankin, and an exercise in practical nephomancy.

yangtze turtle

Material:

Allora & Calzadilla, Ted Chiang, "The Great Silence" from e-flux journal #65 SUPERCOMMUNITY

Presented by: Alexandra Hui

Material:

Alexandra Hui, Attention to Silence Powerpoint

Attention to Silence

Presented by: Adam Jasper

W/ special guest: Penumbra Knauss,  and her reflections on shadows.

(Transcript)

 

Material:

Joseph Rykwert, "The Sciotherum" from The Idea of a Town: The Anthropology of Urban Form in Rome, Italy, and the Ancient World

Attention to Shadows Exercise

Presented by: Dominic Pettman

(Transcript)

 

 

Material:

Vilém Flusser, "The Gesture of Loving" from Gestures

Presented by: Jeff Dolven

(Transcript)

 

 

Material:

Rainer Maria Rilke, "Archaic Torso of Apollo"

Attention to "The New"

Presented by: Anthony Acciavatti

 

 

Material:

Adam Phillips, Attention Seeking