Join D. Graham Burnett, Alyssa Loh, and Peter Schmidt of the Friends of Attention for the launch of their new book, ATTENSITY! A Manifesto of the Attention Liberation Movement (Crown), “a stirring battle cry on behalf of our shared humanity against the forces that seek to diminish and degrade it" (Chris Hayes, author of The Sirens’ Call).
In a highly experiential evening, drawing on the work they do at their acclaimed Strother School of Radical Attention in Dumbo, Brooklyn (featured in The New Yorker, The New York Times, on The Ezra Klein Show, and beyond), the Friends will lead the audience through exercises designed to help us reclaim our attention from the dehumanizing forces of brute instrumentalization—and re-enchant the world.
All the Friends' proceeds from the sales of Attensity! directly support the non-profit work of the Friends of Attention coalition and the School of Radical Attention..
Pre-ordered books will be signed in advance of the event.
D. Graham Burnett is a New-York-based teacher, writer, and maker who has worked with the Friends of Attention since 2018. He trained in the History and Philosophy of Science at Cambridge University, teaches at Princeton, and was a 2023 visiting artist at the Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki.
Alyssa Loh is a filmmaker and writer based in New York. Her film work has screened internationally and been supported by Sundance, TIFF, Fantasia, SXSW, and more. She holds an MFA/MBA (film) from NYU Tisch/Stern. She writes for outlets such as Artforum, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and The American Reader. She co-created the film series Twelve Theses on Attention for the 2021 Glasgow International Biennial; the book version (text + film stills) was published by Princeton University Press in 2022.
Peter Schmidt is a writer and organizer from Clayton, Missouri. His writing has appeared in Foreign Affairs, The Baffler, The Brooklyn Rail, and The New York Times. Since September of 2022 he has served as the Program Director of the Strother School of Radical Attention.
The Friends of Attention are a nonprofit coalition of creative collaborators, colleagues, and actual friends who share an interest in ATTENTION ACTIVISM. Public projects include: the Twelve Theses on Attention (a book, film, and print exhibition); critical writing in October and elsewhere; and since 2023, the Strother School of Radical Attention in Brooklyn, New York. There is no “membership” in the Friends. There are friends.