Existing things reward more attention than anything one could make

Evidence

Part of the reason I work this way is because I find existing things infinitely more interesting than anything I could possibly make. The Bureau of Suspended Objects was really just an excuse for me to stare at the amazing things in the dump—a Nintendo Power Glove, a jumble of bicentennial-edition 7UP cans, a bank ledger from 1906—and to give each object the attention it was due. This near-paralyzing fascination with one’s subject is something I’ve termed the “observational eros.” — Jenny Odell, How to Do Nothing, 52

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines ‘observational eros’ as a near-paralyzing fascination with one’s subject, key to Odell’s method.
• XREF: connects to: Attention itself can be the creative medium, not just the output — Jenny Odell, How to Do Nothing: Resisting the…, 52; Prolonged attention transforms what initially seems boring; Great art creates attentional situations, not just artifacts — The Friends of Attention, Attensity!: A Manifesto of the…, 383 (+2 more)
• yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: Attention itself can be the creative medium, not just the output — Jenny Odell, How to Do Nothing: Resisting the…, 52; Prolonged attention transforms what initially seems boring; Great art creates attentional situations, not just artifacts — The Friends of Attention, Attensity!: A Manifesto of the…, 383 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• Attention-economy identity requires continuously producing new content to prevent being replaced by one’s double #complicates (0.73) — Naomi Klein, Doppelganger, 133