Mobile Screens

As far as interaction with screens is concerned, the given technology of particular interactive devices entails an ambiguous status of screens: what is shown on the screen has to do with how one interacts with it, that is, we can almost literally see what we are doing. This study is devoted to a theoretical exploration of intersections between mobility and visuality from a historical-comparative perspective, addressing the mobility of visual experience and the screen-based access to such experiences in a range of case studies.The author develops the concept through five chapters and analyzes a variety of contemporary screen technologies and the cultural practices involving these screen-based configurations – the ways in which we engage with screens as interfaces with spatial, temporal, and haptic experiences.

"Nanna Verhoeff's new book is a a must for anybody interested in visual culture and media theory. It offers a rich and stimulating theoretical account of the central dimension of our contemporary existence - interfacing and navigating both data and physical world through a variety of screens (game consoles, mobile phones, car interfaces, GPS devices, etc.) In the process of exploring these new screen practices, Verhoeff offers fresh perspectives on many of the key questions in media and new media studies as well as a number of new original theoretical concepts. As the first theoretical manual for the society of mobile screens, this book will become an essential reference for all future investigations of our mobile screen condition." Lev Manovich is a Professor in Visual Arts Department, University of California, and a Director of Software Studies Initiative (softwarestudies.com) "Mobile Screens charts a “navigational turn” in contemporary media culture and recasts screened images as “performative cartographies.” Fusing intermediale discussions of hand-held devices, gaming consoles, urban screens, and cinema, Verhoeff eloquently demonstrates the multi-sensorial nature of screened life while revealing how screens are reading life back to us in new ways. Lucidly written and cleverly theorized, Mobile Screens is vital for anyone interested in contemporary media culture." Lisa Parks, Professor of Film and Media Studies, University of California-Santa Barbara "Nanna Verhoeff has produced a fascinating examination of mobilities, screens and their many intersections in the digital age. Well worth reading." John Urry, Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Director of the Centre for Mobilities Research, Lancaster University

Nanna Verhoeff is associate professor of comparative media studies at Utrecht University. She is the author of The West in Early Cinema: After the Beginning, also with Amsterdam University Press.