Attention, Distraction and the Distribution of the Senses: “Slow”, “Reflexive” and “Contemplative” between Cinema and the Museum

Thomas Elsaesser

doi:10.26881/pan.2021.26.10

Authors

Thomas Elsaesser

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26881/pan.2021.26.10

Keywords:

attention, distraction, senses, cinema and museum

Abstract

A classic definition of attention designates it as “the selective perception of a particular stimulus, sustained by means of concentration and the willing exclusion of interfering sense-data”. In our sense-data rich environments, attention has become a scarce commodity, increasingly valued and sought after, but with the paradoxical consequence that the very pursuit of attention cannot but register as distraction. How do artists confront and art spaces cope with this paradox, and how has the moving image in the museum changed the articulation of time, space and information that is narrative?

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