The Medium Is the Message: Marshall McLuhan and the Architecture of Attention

McLuhan, Marshall. 1964. Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. New York : McGraw-Hill.

I use AR, digital drawings, and sensory fragments not just for how they look, but to reflect how the digital world breaks up our attention and sense of self. McLuhan’s ideas really support this—these media aren’t just tools, they mirror how we think and feel. Constant screen input shifts how we experience time, identity, and even how we manage emotions.

When I make works that flicker, glitch, or dissolve, I’m showing what an overwhelmed brain feels like—a mind trying to stay grounded in a flood of algorithm-driven noise.

McLuhan provides a critical anchor for me to ask: how are our tools changing our minds?

#mediatheory #digitalidentity #overstimulation #cognition #AR #screen culture