Into the sludge

By Michela Chignoli

Topic: Digital Traces

Medium: Object

Material: Wires of wool and wood

Institute: Politecnico di Milano

Year: a.a. 2023-2024

Nowadays watching only one video at a time is no longer enough, but we need ancillary content to help us stay focused: our attention is divided, separated. To represent this it has two large panels, on which there are nails, indicating the collected content. On one side the actual contents are represented, while on the other side there is the sludge content. The threads represent attention. The bundle of threads connected to the actual content will then be taut, while those referring to the ancillary content will be softer, indicating that the type of attention given to the two parts is always different.

Featured image of the project Into the sludge

Complementary image of the project Into the sludge

Metaphor used:

When watching this kind of video, it seems that the attention is divided, fragmented in a desperate attempt to follow and focus on all the different inputs we are subjected to. So, I decided to represent this through a , showing a clear division large number of threads that go separate ways between actual and ancillary content.

Intended Meaning:

Since information and medial overload is something we are all facing in this digital age, I want to expose how much this mechanism is fragmenting our attention, getting us used to enjoying more and more media at a time: a video is no longer enough, a song is no longer enough, we need to be constantly stimulated.

Source:

Videos (Sept to Dec) in which the screen is split: the actual content and mext or below the content, there is the sludge content.