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Came across this striking art piece in Bourke St Mall, #melbourne called Paid Attention by Huei Yin Wong. It’s designed to comment on the way the advertising industry profits from constantly taking our attention at no benefit to us. If you sit making unbroken eye contact with the messages about our attention choices on the screen, it pays out the equivalent of minimum wage for the time watched. Sitting there conspicuously staring at something silly in public for even less than 2 minutes was weirdly unsettling even though we’re constantly looking at silly stuff on screens
A screen that says paid attention. In front of the screen is a blocky uncomfortable chair A receipt that says paid attention city of Melbourne test sites. Time sold 1 min 16 seconds. Your earnings $0.53 thank you for paying attention we will see you again. A claim QR code is obscured
A label that says paid attention HUEI YIN WONG
THE AVERAGE PERSON SEES AROUND 6,000
ADS A DAY.
PUBLIC SPACE IS SATURATED WITH MESSAGES ENGINEERED TO CAPTURE ATTENTION FOR PROFIT.
PAID ATTENTION FLIPS THIS EXCHANGE, BRINGING TRANSPARENCY TO THE
TRANSACTION.
IT EXPLORES HOW ATTENTION IS COMMODIFIED
THROUGH A SCREEN FITTED
WITH AN EYE-TRACKING
CAMERA THAT PAYS VIEWERS
MINIMUM WAGE FOR THEIR GAZE.
IF OUR LIVES ARE SHAPED BY WHERE WE PAY ATTENTION, HOW MUCH IS IT WORTH?