October 17, 2014
Author, Consultant, and Innovator Alex Pang Gives Lecture at Lewis Center for the Arts
Lecture on “Contemplative Computing: Reclaiming Attention in the Age of Distraction” presented in conjunction with a Princeton University Atelier
Photo (on basecamp)
Photo caption: Consultant and innovator Alex Pang
Photo credit: Kristian Kettner
What: Lecture on “Contemplative Computing: Reclaiming Attention in the Age of Distraction”
Who: Technological consultant, and author of The Distraction Addiction Alex Pang, guest speaker for a Princeton University Atelier, “Pay Attention: The Art of Here and Now” taught by theater director Marianne Weems
When: Thursday, November 6th, 2014 at 2:30 p.m.
Where: James M. Stewart ’32 Theater at 185 Nassau St., Princeton NJ
Free and open to the public
(Princeton, NJ) The Lewis Center for the Arts’ Princeton Atelier will present a talk by
author and consultant Alex Pang on “Contemplative Computing: Reclaiming Attention in the Age of Distraction” as part of a course entitled “Pay Attention: The Art of Here and Now” being taught by theater director Marianne Weems. The talk will be held on Thursday, November 6 from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. at the James M. Stewart ’32 Theater at 185 Nassau St. and is free and open to the public.
Pang studies people, technology, and the worlds they make. He is an advocate for contemplate computing, the effort to design information technologies and experiences that don't distract us and fracture our attention, but help us focus, concentrate, and be creative. His latest book, The Distraction Addiction, was published by Little Brown in 2013 and has been translated into five languages. Pang works as a senior consultant at Strategic Business Insights, a Silicon Valley think-tank. He received a Ph.D. in history and sociology of science from the University of Pennsylvania.
The undergraduate course taught by Weems questions whether our sense of the present -- to
which we are meant to be attentive -- has changed, and the impact of Twitter, Instagram and
the “selfie” on making art. The course draws upon various perspectives with guest speakers, of which Pang is one, focusing on spirituality, neuroscience, ontology, psychology, and gaming to investigate these questions of modern consciousness.
Weems is the co-founder and current artistic director of the Obie Award-winning, New York- based performance company, The Builders Association. This company creates interdisciplinary, multi-dimensional stage performances by incorporating actors with audio and visual elements, and has been recognized internationally as a leader of theatrical innovation. In addition to directing theater, Weems' expertise includes dramaturgy, interdisciplinary media, and the intersection of the arts with technology. She recently directed a multimedia workshop with Disney Creative Entertainment and Walt Disney Imagineering. Weems is currently collaborating with David Byrne and Fatboy Slim on Here Lies Love, an original theater/music event.
The Princeton Atelier was founded by Princeton Professor Emerita Toni Morrison and is directed by Paul Muldoon, Princeton’s Howard G.B. Clark ’21 Professor in the Humanities and Professor of Creative Writing. This unique academic program brings together professional artists from different disciplines to create new work in the context of a semester-long course. A painter might team with a composer, a choreographer might join with an electrical engineer, a company of theater artists might engage with environmental scientists, or a poet might connect with a videographer. Princeton students have an unrivaled opportunity to be directly involved in these collaborations.
For more information on this event, the Princeton Atelier and the more than 100 other events offered each year by the Lewis Center for the Arts visit arts.princeton.edu.
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