About

The IdleLab is a research fiction led by Eldritch Priest at Simon Fraser University’s School for the Contemporary Arts. The aim of the lab is to support the study of experimental art, thought, and culture, with a focus on mind wandering and daydreaming as both an object of study and a method for critical analysis. Takings its cues as much from pataphysics and the arts as the cognitive sciences and philosophies of mind, the IdleLab asks: How does the valorization of daydreaming intersect with the emergence of distraction as an experiential norm? Does absentmindedness really contribute to mental wellbeing? Can reverie be an art? Who decides what thoughts count as undirected or spontaneous? Is there a politics of daydreaming? An ethics? Why does interest in daydreaming come at a time when we seem to have fewer opportunities to do it? And yet, what happens when we do have too much time on our hands?