Tag: books

Time and technology

I recently viewed Yayoi Kusama’s “Infinite Love” at SFMOMA this winter. The first time was last December and then again this February. Both times I visited with my husband with whom I have this incredible harmony of attention where we move through exhibits in an equal measure of pace. Often, the people you’re with move more rapidly or more slowly, but rarely at your same pace. We do, and I’ve always loved this about us since our first visit in the 90’s.

Smartphones didn’t exist back then and most everyone was still using film cameras. Fast forward a decade, and smartphones became ubiquitous. I would then occasionally take a photo at an exhibition, as a visual note for later. Then, as smartphones became more advanced and social media blossomed, I began taking more and more photos not only as notes, but to share online. 

Something began to shift

I began feeling less fulfilled during my museum visits. Was it a natural shift after so many years, or perhaps the programming changed? But then, during this visit, something occurred to me. Maybe I wasn’t paying attention in the same way.

In December, when I entered the first infinity mirror room, “Dreaming of Earth’s Sphericity,” I automatically pulled out my smartphone and began taking photos. It’s a small space, and they only give you two minutes to explore before being ushered out for the next group. I had to capture it. The installation was amazing, but I wondered if I missed the experience while taking photos.

We returned a second time in February, and I made an intention to not touch my smartphone and just “be present” inside the infinity mirror room. There it was! That beautiful quality of attention, presence, and satisfaction, like before. Incredible. What else in my life was being mediated by my smartphone that might be better enjoyed without?! Attention really does matter.

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Yes — absolutely!

We still need a robust medium for conveying information, ideas, and perspectives in a long-form format that allows readers both the breadth and depth to totally immerse themselves in an idea or perspective, to contemplate its implications, and integrate it into their own body of knowledge.

Books are essentially a device, a vehicle for communicating knowledge between people and across time. The knowledge encapsulated in them becomes the building blocks of civilization, so that we don’t have to re-invent the wheel each generation, but can build on the learning of those before us. And, not only do books communicate information, but they also contain in their language and style the values of their authors and the era when they were written — a sort of time capsule. 

What about New Media

Now we have a plethora of ways to access and share information in both print and digital forms, in varying lengths, and in a multitude of mediums. One doesn’t necessarily replace the other, but instead complement it with more options for sharing information in more varied ways. Short, long, deep, brief, and everything in between. Books are only one part of this ever evolving ecosystem of information and knowledge, but still a very integral part.