Our Story

The School of Radical Attention was created by the Friends of Attention, an informal coalition of (real) friends that formed in the wake of the 2018 São Paulo Biennial. The common commitment of the Friends is the work of ATTENTION ACTIVISM: that is, the promotion of human flourishing in direct response to the commodification of human attention. For five years, the Friends have written books, made artworks, and brought people together — most notably through the Friends' monthly First Friday gatherings.

The Friends have also convened each year since 2019 for a weeklong, in-person, “Politics of Attention” summer school.

In March of 2022, the Friends launched the Attention Labs, an experiential workshop curriculum designed to reconnect participants to the power of their radical attention. In the program's first year, the Attention Labs received hundreds of participants across the United States, and internationally, in Spain and Brazil.

The Strother School is named after our friend, Matthew Strother (1987-2023), one of the inaugural organizers of the Friends of Attention, and a dearly beloved collaborator in our community. Despite his cancer diagnosis, Matthew bravely persisted in our work for four incredible years, helping draft the Twelve Theses of Attention while undergoing chemotherapy, and helping launch our Attention Lab initiatives while in radiation treatment. We lost him in March of this year, and his inspiration stands over our mission: a better world through better attention – true attention, free attention. 

People working at a communal table in an art studio with a glass display case on the left.

São Paulo Biennial
2018

Collage of people photographing flowers using smartphones, close-ups of various colorful flowers, and an outdoor scene with a tree.

Still from Anthesis (2022)
Claudia Claremi & Friends of Attention

Large group sitting in a circle during a meeting or workshop in a spacious room with colorful wall art.
Group of people sitting around a picnic table under a tree with a house in the background.

Politics of Attention IV
August 2022

A diverse group of people posing for a group photo in an ornate room with patterned flooring and arched doorway. The group consists of men and women of various ages, smiling and casually dressed, some kneeling and others standing.

Attention Lab at Parque Lage Visual Arts School
April 2023

Man in a straw hat and sunglasses enjoying a cup of tea on a boat with a river view.

Matthew Strother at the Kochi Biennial