Are Waning Attention Spans Affecting the Art We Like? (No pictures below)
The average attention span of a person nowadays is 8 seconds. This has been a steadily slippery slope since the digital age started and now with the massive overstimulation we all get daily (we spend around 9 hours a day looking at screens) it’s getting a bit ridiculous. The average time people spend in exhibitions has decreased significantly.
These facts and this discussion came up the other day when I was speaking with a conservator who was telling me that conservation of art at the mid level (not Picasso’s and Rembrandt’s but Victorian watercolours and prints) is slowing down. People just don’t collect this art nowadays, it’s not popular, and we specifically flagged the feeling that it doesn’t grab the eye or the attention enough against all the more modern and even more digital work that is coming through that is often not as subtle.
There will be many reasons these changes and why they are happening but one that has to be a contributor which I’m interested in (because it relates to all the marketing info I preach) has to be the rise of the digital age messing with peoples attention span and attention to detail. So specifically I wanted to touch on this, air some thoughts, but keep it brief so that possibly it kicks off a look at wider reasons for changing art tastes. So, let me talk about the area I know best and am most interested in.
We now work, watch, and interact more and more via digital means, and those who what to grab our attention are changing how they deliver information to make it as easily absorbed and attention grabbing as possible. Nowadays digital marketing is now most effectively delivered through video, videos need to be under 2 minutes have the best chance of being watched in full. Memes, bold statements, simple images, bold colours work best - people are even colour theming their Instagram accounts which is not that surprising considering the number of people now picking up being an interior designer as a new ‘hobby’ (or fitness blogging / instructing but that is another rant of mine now relevant here).
So the fact that I have not yet inserted an image into this blog means, if you’re still reading, you’re either very fast or have avoided the general norm.
This change in our ability to really see, look, absorb and form a more in-depth opinion (things I think will be lacking on a shorter attention span) has to have had some affect our on the art we’re drawn to (again, along with many other things like culture, trends, styles, how lucrative a piece is etc etc, but stay with me while I focus on this one small idea that go me fired up).
So these changes, do they affect our ability to appreciate more subtle art work.. I certainly now have to actively avoid skimming through exhibitions. If we’re not instantly grabbed by something visually do we assume we don’t like it and why is that view point now acceptable? Have we stopped thinking it’s ok to not give things more time? And you can translate this to most interactions, Tinder - judge someone in 10 seconds, Twitter - have an opinion in 140 character, Facebook - don’t post WORDS it bores people, post images and videos under 2 minutes… I could go on.
Remember that I’m focusing on the audience there and not on whether social media and online promotion should be necessary for an artist to build a career - this is another discussion altogether with a hundred other variables…! However…
The implications of our waining attention spans, I think, has to be a contributor to the art styles that are now more popularly collected. I think this is likely more noticeable at the commercial level, I visited a successful commercial gallery I used to manage years ago and the art displayed seems more bold in colour and style, possibly more easy digestible and attention grabbing, there were also artists who were represented back when I was their and some of them you can see the style has changed to be bolder in colour or now include play with text…
Although, of course the industry and tastes will progress and change over the decades, I think it’s interesting to consider how one of the biggest social changes we’ve seen in the last 100 years - the beginning of a digital era - has and will change what people are drawn to with visual arts. Really the first generation which has not lived without the internet, mobile phones, personal computers and laptops etc is now reaching adulthood and as their opinions start to carry more weight in society I think most creative industries will be seeing even more drastic changes in the years to come. As a new generation of makers and members of the audience come through the question is how will things develop further in terms of consumption and production of art and will this leave more subtle work or older work falling away and not getting the attention they deserves Is this just a natural process or is it sped up because the information we consume and the attention span with which we consume it is now ten times faster?
I’m interested to discuss this with different people in different roles within the arts, I’m interested to hear other opinions and to develop this train of thought which, for now is just in the beginnings. So if you have an opinion if you want to contribute a thought, if you’ve managed to get to the end of this piece and you want to tell me how you did it with your 8 second attention span let me know: caitlin . smyth (at) hotmail . com.