For forty years, RM Vaughan has been fighting, and failing, to get his
forty winks each night. He's not alone, not by any stretch.
More and more studies highlight the health risks of undersleeping, yet
we have never been asked to do more, and for longer. And we can't stop
thinking that a lack of sleep is heroic: snoozing is a kind of laziness,
after all. But why, when we know more about the value of sleep, are we
obsessed with twenty--four--hour workdays and deliberate sleep
deprivation?
Working outward from his own experience, Vaughan explores this insomnia
culture we've created, predicting a cultural collision -- will we soon
have to legislate rest, as France has done? -- and wondering about the
cause--and--effect model of our shorter attention spans. Does the fact
that we are almost universally underslept change how our world works? We
know it's an issue with, say, pilots and truck drivers, but what about
artists -- does an insomnia culture change creativity? And what are the
long-term cultural consequences of this increasing sacri?ce for the
ever-elusive goal of 'total productivity'?
'RM Vaughan ... [is] easily amongst the top ?ve art critics working
today. I've seen Vaughan turn phrases that have the forcefulness of
Christian Viveros Faune, the plainspoken insight of Dave Hickey, and the
lyricism of Peter Schjeldahl. Vaughan should never have to do anything
but write. '-- Paddy Johnson, editorial director, Art F City New York
RM Vaughan is a Canadian writer and video artist who lives in Berlin
and Toronto. Vaughan is the author of nine books and a contributor to
over 50 anthologies. His videos and filmed performances play in
galleries and festivals around the world.
