Attention//Distraction: The Exhibition

Attention // Distraction is an exhibition presented by Underground Art And Design (UAAD). It explores misplaced and mediated attention through interactive installations, net art, XR, artist-made games, live performance and artist talks.

We live in a moment of unprecedented competition for attention in a world shaped by ever-growing crises and conflicts.
Wars and colonization unfold across multiple regions. Political scandals emerge only to be quickly forgotten. Technological power concentrates in the hands of corporations and technocratic institutions. And with the rise of artificial intelligence and the attention economy, our attention has been further commodified and exploited through information that is exaggerated, fabricated, or manufactured.
We are physically present in the world, yet simultaneously networked to multiple elsewheres. Our perception is shaped not only by what we choose to look at, but also by the technological infrastructures, media platforms, and ideological powers that direct our gaze.
Before we pay attention to something, we need to examine: what gravitational forces are redirecting our attention, and from what? When our vision turns toward a certain orientation, what falls outside the frame?
Artists have long intervened in these dynamics by reshaping how we look, notice, and interpret the world. This exhibition brings together interactive installations, net art, XR, artist-made games, algorithmic system, live performance and artist talks, exploring distraction as a strategy for commanding attention in the mode of refusal, interference, and subversion.
Artists:
Sam Lavigne, Temitope Olujobi, Anna Zhang, Queenie Wu, Tina Tarighian, k0j0 (Koi Ren and Joey Verbeke), foxes, Mengna Da, Iris Xiaoyu Qu, Niles Fromm, Adam Salem, Julia Kan, Jasmine Nackash, Supernova191919, Foreseen Agency
Location: The Blanc (15 E 40th St, 1st Fl, NYC - Near Bryant Park)
Curated by Amy Xiaofan Jiang
Learn more about our work at uaad.art