Claire Bishop’s latest book, Disordered Attention: How We Look at Art and Performance Today, provides a profound analysis of how digital technology and the attention economy have reshaped contemporary art and performance. Across four insightful essays, Bishop explores trends such as research-based installations, performance exhibitions, and public interventions, highlighting how these art forms adapt to the fragmented and distracted nature of modern spectatorship driven by social media and the internet.

In her opening essay, Bishop examines how archival and document-driven artworks, once celebrated for uncovering counter-histories, now grapple with the internet’s blending of fact and fiction. This evolution has led to a more activist-oriented approach to art, as seen in the works of artists like Forensic Architecture. Another essay delves into the rise of performance art within galleries, challenging traditional audience expectations by incorporating elements of theater and dance, often framed with Instagram in mind.

↑ The award-winning Sun & Sea (Marina) performance is coming to London Installation view at the 58th International Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia, 2019 © Andrej Vasilenko

Bishop also addresses the political dimensions of contemporary art, tracing the history of artistic interventions from Dada to modern movements like Black Lives Matter. She critically examines the tensions between local and global activism and the role of art in these dynamics. The book also explores the proliferation of works that use modernist architecture and questions whether this trend has become a shorthand for broader cultural references.

Underlying Bishop’s erudite and informed art-historical analysis is a significant question about the nature of attention in contemporary society. She investigates whether spectatorship will always be shaped by the power of capital and technology or if there remains a way to reclaim focused, meaningful engagement with art. This book is an essential read for anyone interested in understanding the intersection of art, technology, and society in the 21st century.

More information find on Amazon Books.

Sources:
artreview.com penguinrandomhouse.com publishersweekly.com