Practices of Attention

Commissioned by the Bienal de São Paulo in partnership with Sesc-SP, this three-day international, public symposium brings together artists, scientists, critics, writers, and scholars for a ranging, interdisciplinary inquiry into one of the major issues of our time: attention. The program is conceived by D. Graham Burnett and Stefanie Hessler.

At the heart of the 33rd Bienal de São Paulo is a commitment to “reaffirm the power of art as a unique place to focus attention in, to, and for the world.” This distinctive vision—placing economies of attention at the center of our relationship to works of art—marks the urgency of the question of attention in our moment. Attention lies at the nexus of perception and action, aesthetics and ethics, wealth and power. Whose eyes (and minds) are where, why, and for how long? These are central questions driving the evolution of “surveillance capitalism,” not to mention social life itself. New technologies and practices are reshaping our understanding of the attentional subject—with consequences for learning, politics, and collective existence.

With an eye on these pressing issues, this public symposium of talks, workshops, and performances entitled Practices of Attention draws on recent theoretical work, historical recoveries, and experimental investigations. It brings together key thinkers of our time in a varied and engaging program to dive deeper into and investigate from different angles the modes, conditions, and challenges to attention today.

The complete program and the registration form are available here.