Attention please, is your phone dominating your life?
Her humorous and candy-coloured take on television fundraising drives is part of a new show at the University of Melbourne's Science Gallery titled Distraction.
"We're trying to steal back time from tech corporations, who are stealing our attention every day," Allcorn said.
Using an analog script, visitors can tell each other about their digital time-sucking habits and pledge to each other to use their time differently, with helpful suggestions including "spend time with people you like".
Allcorn has tested this analog approach, and who knows, perhaps looking at faces rather than screens might catch on.
"You're not on your phone any more, and you're looking face-to-face with someone ... there's a lot of accountability that comes from that, and I think that's powerful," she said.
The time pledged by gallery-goers will be added to a giant tally, with the aim of collectively reclaiming a whole year of people's attention.
The artwork was developed with psychologist Gloria Mark, and also features a giant spinning prize wheel labelled "Bye Bye Brain Rot" containing strategies to reduce digital distraction.
The topical exhibition idea came through a brainstorming session with the Science Gallery's SciCurious advisory group, made up of people aged 15-25 who reported feeling constantly plugged in to the digital world.
"It was kind of natural to come up with a theme around distraction, this idea of our attention being pulled in every direction,' curator Bern Hall said.
An international open call for artworks resulted in more than 300 submissions, with half a dozen included in the show and about the same number commissioned to flesh out the distraction theme.
Of course, an exhibition focused on human responses to the digital world would not be complete without cat videos.
Artist Jen Valender travelled to Japan's Ainoshima Island, known as "Cat Heaven Island", to film cats encountering digital screens for the first time.
She discovered felines are captivated by cat content just like humans, and her artwork features 81 cat videos crammed into a giant screen and played on a loop.
Gallery-goers who stand in the right spot and strike a feline pose will be able to see the footage switch over to "cat vision" mode, in colours mimicking what cats actually see, based on animal research by the university.
There's also Epic Sock Puppet Theatre from US media artists Jennifer Gradecki and Derek Curry, which features hilarious but malicious sock puppets who spread disinformation and ridiculousness as they teach people how to uncover online impersonators.
These are just some of the hopeful perspectives art can offer in response to the overwhelm caused by the digital world, according to Hall.
Distraction is at the Science Gallery at the University of Melbourne from July 26 until May 2, 2026.
Artist Laura Allcorn is running a pledge drive with a difference, but she's not trying to raise money - what she really wants is your attention.
Her humorous and candy-coloured take on television fundraising drives is part of a new show at the University of Melbourne's Science Gallery titled Distraction.
"We're trying to steal back time from tech corporations, who are stealing our attention every day," Allcorn said.
Using an analog script, visitors can tell each other about their digital time-sucking habits and pledge to each other to use their time differently, with helpful suggestions including "spend time with people you like".
Allcorn has tested this analog approach, and who knows, perhaps looking at faces rather than screens might catch on.
"You're not on your phone any more, and you're looking face-to-face with someone ... there's a lot of accountability that comes from that, and I think that's powerful," she said.
The time pledged by gallery-goers will be added to a giant tally, with the aim of collectively reclaiming a whole year of people's attention.
The artwork was developed with psychologist Gloria Mark, and also features a giant spinning prize wheel labelled "Bye Bye Brain Rot" containing strategies to reduce digital distraction.
The topical exhibition idea came through a brainstorming session with the Science Gallery's SciCurious advisory group, made up of people aged 15-25 who reported feeling constantly plugged in to the digital world.
"It was kind of natural to come up with a theme around distraction, this idea of our attention being pulled in every direction,' curator Bern Hall said.
An international open call for artworks resulted in more than 300 submissions, with half a dozen included in the show and about the same number commissioned to flesh out the distraction theme.
Of course, an exhibition focused on human responses to the digital world would not be complete without cat videos.
Artist Jen Valender travelled to Japan's Ainoshima Island, known as "Cat Heaven Island", to film cats encountering digital screens for the first time.
She discovered felines are captivated by cat content just like humans, and her artwork features 81 cat videos crammed into a giant screen and played on a loop.
Gallery-goers who stand in the right spot and strike a feline pose will be able to see the footage switch over to "cat vision" mode, in colours mimicking what cats actually see, based on animal research by the university.
There's also Epic Sock Puppet Theatre from US media artists Jennifer Gradecki and Derek Curry, which features hilarious but malicious sock puppets who spread disinformation and ridiculousness as they teach people how to uncover online impersonators.
These are just some of the hopeful perspectives art can offer in response to the overwhelm caused by the digital world, according to Hall.
Distraction is at the Science Gallery at the University of Melbourne from July 26 until May 2, 2026.
Artist Laura Allcorn is running a pledge drive with a difference, but she's not trying to raise money - what she really wants is your attention.
Her humorous and candy-coloured take on television fundraising drives is part of a new show at the University of Melbourne's Science Gallery titled Distraction.
"We're trying to steal back time from tech corporations, who are stealing our attention every day," Allcorn said.
Using an analog script, visitors can tell each other about their digital time-sucking habits and pledge to each other to use their time differently, with helpful suggestions including "spend time with people you like".
Allcorn has tested this analog approach, and who knows, perhaps looking at faces rather than screens might catch on.
"You're not on your phone any more, and you're looking face-to-face with someone ... there's a lot of accountability that comes from that, and I think that's powerful," she said.
The time pledged by gallery-goers will be added to a giant tally, with the aim of collectively reclaiming a whole year of people's attention.
The artwork was developed with psychologist Gloria Mark, and also features a giant spinning prize wheel labelled "Bye Bye Brain Rot" containing strategies to reduce digital distraction.
The topical exhibition idea came through a brainstorming session with the Science Gallery's SciCurious advisory group, made up of people aged 15-25 who reported feeling constantly plugged in to the digital world.
"It was kind of natural to come up with a theme around distraction, this idea of our attention being pulled in every direction,' curator Bern Hall said.
An international open call for artworks resulted in more than 300 submissions, with half a dozen included in the show and about the same number commissioned to flesh out the distraction theme.
Of course, an exhibition focused on human responses to the digital world would not be complete without cat videos.
Artist Jen Valender travelled to Japan's Ainoshima Island, known as "Cat Heaven Island", to film cats encountering digital screens for the first time.
She discovered felines are captivated by cat content just like humans, and her artwork features 81 cat videos crammed into a giant screen and played on a loop.
Gallery-goers who stand in the right spot and strike a feline pose will be able to see the footage switch over to "cat vision" mode, in colours mimicking what cats actually see, based on animal research by the university.
There's also Epic Sock Puppet Theatre from US media artists Jennifer Gradecki and Derek Curry, which features hilarious but malicious sock puppets who spread disinformation and ridiculousness as they teach people how to uncover online impersonators.
These are just some of the hopeful perspectives art can offer in response to the overwhelm caused by the digital world, according to Hall.
Distraction is at the Science Gallery at the University of Melbourne from July 26 until May 2, 2026.
Artist Laura Allcorn is running a pledge drive with a difference, but she's not trying to raise money - what she really wants is your attention.
Her humorous and candy-coloured take on television fundraising drives is part of a new show at the University of Melbourne's Science Gallery titled Distraction.
"We're trying to steal back time from tech corporations, who are stealing our attention every day," Allcorn said.
Using an analog script, visitors can tell each other about their digital time-sucking habits and pledge to each other to use their time differently, with helpful suggestions including "spend time with people you like".
Allcorn has tested this analog approach, and who knows, perhaps looking at faces rather than screens might catch on.
"You're not on your phone any more, and you're looking face-to-face with someone ... there's a lot of accountability that comes from that, and I think that's powerful," she said.
The time pledged by gallery-goers will be added to a giant tally, with the aim of collectively reclaiming a whole year of people's attention.
The artwork was developed with psychologist Gloria Mark, and also features a giant spinning prize wheel labelled "Bye Bye Brain Rot" containing strategies to reduce digital distraction.
The topical exhibition idea came through a brainstorming session with the Science Gallery's SciCurious advisory group, made up of people aged 15-25 who reported feeling constantly plugged in to the digital world.
"It was kind of natural to come up with a theme around distraction, this idea of our attention being pulled in every direction,' curator Bern Hall said.
An international open call for artworks resulted in more than 300 submissions, with half a dozen included in the show and about the same number commissioned to flesh out the distraction theme.
Of course, an exhibition focused on human responses to the digital world would not be complete without cat videos.
Artist Jen Valender travelled to Japan's Ainoshima Island, known as "Cat Heaven Island", to film cats encountering digital screens for the first time.
She discovered felines are captivated by cat content just like humans, and her artwork features 81 cat videos crammed into a giant screen and played on a loop.
Gallery-goers who stand in the right spot and strike a feline pose will be able to see the footage switch over to "cat vision" mode, in colours mimicking what cats actually see, based on animal research by the university.
There's also Epic Sock Puppet Theatre from US media artists Jennifer Gradecki and Derek Curry, which features hilarious but malicious sock puppets who spread disinformation and ridiculousness as they teach people how to uncover online impersonators.
These are just some of the hopeful perspectives art can offer in response to the overwhelm caused by the digital world, according to Hall.
Distraction is at the Science Gallery at the University of Melbourne from July 26 until May 2, 2026.
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ABC News
13 hours ago
- ABC News
How religion and horror movies come together to form 'a very powerful experience'
From art-house thrillers to blood-soaked blockbusters, horror has dominated screens in recent years. In 2023 and again in 2024, a record number of 55 horror films graced North American cinema screens, with many earning acclaim from critics and audiences alike. This year, scary films have accounted for 17 per cent of ticket purchases in the US and Canada, compared to just 4 per cent a decade ago. In Australia, homegrown horror productions have raked in millions at the box office. And it seems the devil is in the details. More than many other genres, horror features religion in both overt and subtle ways. Fans of the genre might recall recent films like Heretic, a psychological thriller about two Mormon missionaries in a cat-and-mouse game with a terrifying stranger. Or perhaps The First Omen, which centres on a conspiracy to bring about the birth of the Antichrist in a Catholic orphanage. Both trod well-worn paths for the genre, exploring religion, faith, and subverted spirituality. Upcoming Australian releases follow a similar path, with titles like The Ritual, The Baby in the Basket and Rapture. So, what is it about religious imagery that continues to haunt the horror genre and captivate its audiences? Horror and spirituality have long been interwoven. "Horror is as old as we are," explains Barbara Creed, professor of screen studies at the University of Melbourne. She points to drawings made by Aboriginal people tens of thousands of years ago, which were found in a cave "described as a kind of ancient cathedral" in Victoria's Grampians National Park. "These were drawings of a monster that has always terrified Aboriginal people's dreams, the Bunyip, a creature that lived in ponds and waterways and devoured people if it could grab them," she tells ABC Radio National's God Forbid. Skip forward several millennia, and horror found its way to the public via mass media. After the invention of the printing press, horrifying imagery was soon to circulate, often linked to Christian sectarianism and morality tales. One of the first films to ever be made was The Execution of Mary Stuart (1885), which depicted the beheading of Mary Queen of Scots, the Catholic monarch of a Protestant kingdom. The horror genre was first officially named in 1931, with the release of the film adaptation of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula. In the following three decades, changing religious ideals greatly informed horror sensibilities, particularly Christian allegories about sin and demonic possession. Classic films of the 60s and 70s relied heavily on Christian imagery and leant into public hysteria over the Satanic panic — think Rosemary's Baby (1968), The Exorcist (1973) and Carrie (1976). The 80s and 90s brought in themes of divine punishment and mysticism with films like The Entity (1982), Stigmata (1999) and End of Days (1999). The preoccupation with religious iconography carried into the 2000s, as titles like The Witch (2015), Hereditary (2018) and Saint Maud (2019) marked a wave of prestige horror films with critical and commercial success. In the past few years, religious horror has delved into themes of spiritual delusion, institutional control and inherited sin, with critically acclaimed films like The Medium (2021), You Won't Be Alone (2022) and The Moogai (2024) offering fresh, often female-centred takes on faith, fear and trauma. Parish priest and film scholar Father Richard Leonard says the horror genre fulfils an important function in society, particularly in times of turmoil. "I think it's very important from a psychological, spiritual, theological point of view," he says. He says religious themes in horror films offer an opportunity to explore questions about the nature of our world. "They're great mythologies, the great motifs of good and evil, of finitude, death, disease and decay," he says. "The cinema is famously a place where you can think about those things — be sutured, as they say in cinema studies — into an experience of what it's like to do that from a very safe distance." Coltan Scrivner, a research fellow at the Recreational Fear Lab at Aarhus University and psychologist at Arizona State University, adds that the structure of horror films, which usually pits "an incredibly formidable antagonist" against "a pretty vulnerable protagonist", helps train our brains for real-life threats. "One of the things that I've argued in my work is that horror taps into these anti-predation circuits of the mind," he says. "This is why, if we watch enough horror movies or hear enough horror stories, we learn how to deal with these things that are malevolent and bigger and stronger and more powerful than us. "In the long term, if you're watching scary movies or reading scary books or just engaging generally in what I've called 'scary play', what you're doing is practising regulating your arousal levels, your fear, your anxiety." In fact, Dr Scrivner's research has found that some horror fans are "dark copers", who watch scary movies for therapeutic reasons. "These are people who are telling us they don't enjoy horror for the rush; they actually enjoy it because it helps them challenge their fears, learn the limitations of what they can handle, or see how they would react in a really stressful situation," he says. Professor Creed says religious elements in horror films help us confront evil in its most supernatural, seductive or destructive forms. "Religion itself is designed to help people come to terms with themselves and their lives, but also with [their] darker side," she says. "The other side of religion, of course, is the devil, which is designed to frighten and terrify." Father Leonard argues that horror films and religious traditions are united by their interest in moral failure. "The Bible — and all the great texts of most religions — are [all about] … how we can get corrupted, how we can choose to do evil things," he says. While films about exorcisms, dark rituals and cults once reflected literal fears about slipping morality and satanism, they now examine more existential questions about human choices and redemption. And just because practices like exorcism are "on the decline" in real-world Christianity, "that doesn't mean that people aren't still absolutely interested in this interface between good and evil", Father Leonard says. Historically, many religious horror movies have projected misogynistic ideas, Father Leonard says. Take, for example, the infamous scene in The Exorcist in which a young girl stabs herself in the crotch with a crucifix. "Religion's relationship to women's bodies has been appalling, and we can start to see how that's worked its way out into this genre, that women need to be suppressed," he says. "The male-dominant work in the genre is about controlling women's bodies and seeing them as an enormous threat to their own power." Professor Creed has written extensively on "feminist new-wave horror", a tranche of horror movies directed by women which centre not just on female characters, but "the monstrous feminine". "It's the female protagonists who are, in a sense, the monsters of the film, but they're on a journey," she says. "They usually emerge at the other end transformed in some kind of way, and usually this journey is quite intimate and personal. So it's a whole new approach to horror, and I think it's really important." She points to Titane (2021), an art-house horror film by French director Julia Ducournau about a woman who has sex with a car. "It's got a lot of Christian themes, it's a very religious film," she says. "But it explores the idea of redemption through the grotesque." From gory exorcisms to possessed nuns, the horror genre is known for its well-worn tropes. Dr Scrivner says this is no accident, though it may frustrate film critics. "You see the same storylines, the same mistakes that the characters make, the same tropes over and over," he says. "I think that the reason that we see that is that those tropes tap into something universal and common to humans, something that each generation has to learn on their own. "Horror, in some ways, consistently reminds us of what not to do in the face of danger. Don't split up from your group. Don't go into the dark forest by yourself. Don't investigate that bump in the night." Father Leonard says that tropes don't necessarily take away from a film's power to scare. "I can be as blasé as I like about the horror genre, and I can still jump out of my seat at a film at a surprise I didn't see coming," he says. "I think that captures something of the human spirit … We're trying to get ready for that unpredictable moment."
News.com.au
6 days ago
- News.com.au
Aussie wife confronts husband's mistress, exposes cheating issue
A woman left 'destroyed' by her husband's cheating decided to confront the 'other woman' on live radio – sparking a debate about how men and women are treated when it comes to infidelity. The wife, named Kylie, had a dramatic and emotional showdown with her husband's mistress Sophie, on the Kyle & Jackie O Show recently. During the segment, Kylie pleaded with her to stop affair, stating through tears: 'You sleeping with my husband is ruining my life.' Sophie, who works with the married man, appeared to already know about Kylie, stating their relationship was 'sexual' and insisting her husband 'does love you'. But while knowingly sleeping with a married man is widely seen as morally wrong, many viewers weighed in on social media to condemn Kylie, pointing out she should be 'confronting the husband'. 'The responsibility is on her husband. 100 per cent on her husband,' one argued on social media. 'It's the husbands fault. He has done the betrayal,' another agreed. While one declared: 'As much as the mistress has no morals, its not her job to be loyal, it's the husband's. He made the vows, not the mistress! HE is the reason she is broken!' The tendency to blame the 'other woman' in cases of infidelity, rather than the cheater, exposes a stark discrepancy between societal expectations on men and women, says University of Melbourne social scientist Associate Professor Lauren Rosewarne. 'Women are expected to be able to temper their libidos in ways that our culture pretends men can't,' Dr Rosewarne told previously. 'Women have also long been tasked with [the] duty of sexual gatekeeping – that they are somehow not only responsible for their own desires, but also for men's too; that somehow the duty is on them not to tempt men. 'Obviously these ideas are underpinned by antiquated gendered stereotypes that many people still clutch to.' Dr Rosewarne added that 'if the man is married and he has an affair, he has wrecked his home'. 'Blaming the other woman just allows us to frame the man as some kind of hapless victim to his penis, rather than an adult who made his own decisions,' she said. In this case, Kylie has laid blame on her husband's mistress, rather than challenge the man she married – and many noticed this apparent act of internalised misogyny after a video of the on-air confrontation went viral. 'People need to step off the mentality of 'she knew the wife existed'. So what? She owes that woman nothing. She isn't hurting her. He is. It's like drinking poison and expecting somebody else to [dead emoji]. Nobody in the world owes you kindness, respect etc. The people who love you and care for you should supply that willingly and if they don't, they are not your people,' commented one. 'It's 100 per cent on the husband!!! Why is she not calling him out?' asked another. During the call – which initially aired in June but was reshared on the Kyle & Jackie O Show TikTok account on Friday – Kylie tells the hosts she found out a couple of months ago that her husband was having an affair after stumbling across a text message. After discovering multiple messages on her husband's phone, she turned to the radio show for help 'confronting' the mistress. 'Hey Sophie, I know that you don't know me, and I know that I probably haven't even been mentioned, but I believe that you are sleeping with my husband,' she said. Sophie replied by stating the affair was 'still continuing', prompting Kylie to beg her to stop. 'I just want you to know how much this is affecting me,' she said. 'You sleeping with my husband is ruining my life.' Sophie, who appeared to know her bed buddy was married, explained their relationship was purely sexual before adding: 'He does love you though. I don't know if that makes it better.' When Kylie gets distressed by the revelation that she knows, a visibly shocked Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O Henderson point out, with Sandilands stating: 'It's not just Sophie's fault, it's also your husbands'. It's difficult to pinpoint exactly how many Australians have affairs, but studies suggest that a significant portion of marriages experience infidelity.
Sydney Morning Herald
6 days ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
The rarest of rare books and letters on show at Melbourne fair
Where might you find the world's oldest printed object, the first illustrated edition of Pride and Prejudice, and one of Sigmund Freud's personal letters – all in one room – this weekend? Right here in Melbourne. Saturday is the final day of the Melbourne Rare Book Fair, which runs for three days at the University of Melbourne's Wilson Hall. Despite this being the 55th instalment of the event – the largest rare book fair in the southern hemisphere – it remains one of Melbourne's best-kept literary secrets. There are some truly special items on display this year, including the Hyakumanto Dharani (One Million Pagodas and Dharani Prayers), the world's oldest printed object, created in 8th century Japan. There's also a page of the first print run of the Gutenberg Bible, the Western world's first piece of print. In addition to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, there are several other precious relics of the British canon. For fans of the Bard, London-based rare book dealer Peter Harrington is showcasing one of Shakespeare's third folios, which have been beautifully preserved. The folios were the first of Shakespeare's anthologies, featuring 18 plays that had not been published before. 'Without the folios, we would have no Shakespeare,' Harrington says. 'This one is the rarest folio of the four because of the Great Fire [of London].' There are only a few dozen copies of it in private hands around the world today. A number of the dealers at the fair this year haven't showcased their collections in Australia before, or haven't done so for decades. Many of them came to Australia for the annual International League of Antiquarian Booksellers' symposium. An opportunity for leading rare book academics and dealers to discuss the challenges their field is facing in the 21st century, the event has not taken place in Australia before. Its Melbourne debut, on July 30, led to the 2025 Rare Book Fair featuring a particularly impressive line-up.
