A proposed book exploring the recent phenomena of immersive art experiences is getting support from National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Kate Mondloch, professor of contemporary art and theory in the Department of the History of Art and Architecture at the UO, will provide a framework for evaluating these body-based attention initiatives and expand them to include educational settings like museums and classrooms in her forthcoming book, Art of Attention: Body-Mind Awareness and Contemporary Art.

"It will be the first book-length study to examine body-mind awareness practices in relationship to contemporary art," Mondloch explained.

A popular example of an immersive art experience is the Van Gogh Exhibit: The Immersive Experience exhibit currently touring major cities in the U.S. and across the globe. The exhibit envelopes attendees with massive floor-to-ceiling projections of Van Gogh's work, animating and morphing the images into hundreds of pieces by the post-Impressionist painter for an attention-grabbing experience lasting an hour.  

The support for Mondloch’s work comes from the highly competitive NEH Summer Stipend program, which only funds 10-15% of applications received annually.