Frictionlessness

Friction and limits run against everything we are told to admire and want in digital technologies today. Kemper shows us a different world, where broken is beautiful, and imperfection may offer our greatest hope. * Steven J. Jackson, Professor of Information Science and Science and Technology Studies, Cornell University, USA *Although built on the mathematics of incompleteness, computer culture schmoozes consumers with glossy, gapless, effortless virtuosity. Expanding on philosophy in the wake of Derrida, Jakko Kemper unpacks imperfection as aesthetic tool in digital music, games and video. He shows us how to restore friction: to give us a sadder but ultimately more authentic experience of the ephemeral, precarious and scarred fragility haunting the surface sheen. * Seán Cubitt, Professor of Screen Studies, University of Melbourne, Australia, and author of Finite Media (2016) *There’s an urgent need to critically unpack an aesthetic logic of frictionlessness which claims to miraculously eliminate pain-points and transform frustrations into ghostly “wow” moments of user satisfaction. As this book makes very clear, to be connected in this way (without friction) is not the kind of engagement we need right now. Silicon Valley frictionlessness is an exclusory logic that arrives like a Trojan horse, concealing exploitative, toxic effects. Jakko Kemper’s fearless antidote is a timely and brilliantly counter-poised mode of friction that could potentially steer us away from the carelessness of user-centrality toward sustainable modes of audience activation and care. * Tony D. Sampson, Reader in Digital Communication, University of Essex, UK, and author of A Sleepwalker’s Guide to Social Media (2020) *

Jakko Kemper is Assistant Professor in Digital Aesthetics and Platforms Vernaculars at the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. His research focuses on critical theory, media aesthetics, and the environmental implications of digital technology. He previously published the edited volume, Imperfections: Studies in Mistakes, Flaws, and Failures (Bloomsbury, 2021).