I find it fascinating that both pieces, at some point refer to architecture. And what’s more, that both pieces refer to architecture in reference to distraction or lack of perception. This is something that has bothered me for years; that people don’t stop to think about the space or environment they are in. They just go through it in a daze. Of course the same can be said about an artwork, but not everybody sees a piece of art “proper” every day. Rather, we experience the art of space, I would say, for 90% of our time daily. It’s easy to think that buildings are so servatory in nature that they have no real meaning other than that; this is true of some (bad) spaces. But unless architecture is really bad (doesn’t perform well) or really extravagant, the general population walks through like zombies.

What does this mean for us? It means that unless you are a starchitect, your artwork isn’t getting noticed, and unless your building has all kinds of useless kalatrava spikes on it, it’s meaningless (to the laity). We know this is not the case, but unless the capital A architecture hits you directly in the face, it is received as servatory. And if all architecture is perceived as servatory, and the laity doesn’t understand what the architect is doing other than making efficient space, then there is almost no value (to the laity) to hire an architect when an engineer can perform this lowly task of efficiencies. And thus, it’s clear how this is a huge problem to the profession.

If we aren’t understood, we are insignificant.

It’s almost as if McLuhan’s thoughts on speed here are reversed; that architecture is in fact too slow to be perceived. It’s truly a shame. I’ve walked into many spaces that were clearly done on a budget, however done artistically, with friends and said something about the spatial concept with the same answer: “What? Oh yeah, I didn’t see that. Cool…” only to have it completely brushed off, without a thought, after the art was blatantly pointed out. The problem is deeper than just architecture, I dwell on it here as I see this as a threat to our profession. The problem is that nobody thinks critically anymore. Nobody. Society is so numb from flashing headlines and loud sounds that if it’s quiet-it’s meaningless.

All it takes to see the world is simple cognition.