John Armitage 
Virilio and the Media 

In books such as The Aesthetics of Disappearance, War and
Cinema, The Lost Dimension, and The Vision
Machine, Paul Virilio has fundamentally changed how we think
about contemporary media culture. Virilio’s examinations of
the connections between perception, logistics, the city, and new
media technologies comprise some of the most powerful texts within
his hypermodern philosophy.

Virilio and the Media presents an introduction to
Virilio’s important media related ideas, from polar inertia
and the accident to the landscape of events, cities of panic, and
the instrumental image loop of television. John Armitage positions
Virilio’s essential media texts in their theoretical contexts
whilst outlining their substantial influence on recent cultural
thinking. Consequently, Armitage renders Virilio’s media
texts accessible, priming his readers to create individual critical
evaluations of Virilio’s writings. The book closes with an
annotated and user-friendly Guide to Further Reading and a
non-technical Glossary of Virilio’s significant
concepts.

Virilio’s texts on the media are vital for everyone concerned
with contemporary media culture, and Virilio and the Media
offers a comprehensive and up to date introduction to the ever
expanding range of his critical media and cultural works.

Table of Content

Acknowledgments viii

Introduction 1

1 The Aesthetics of Disappearance 24

2 Cinema, War, and the Logistics of Perception 47

3 New Media: Vision, Inertia, and the Mobile Phone 71

4 City of Panic: The Instrumental Image Loop of Television and Media Events 95

5 The Work of the Critic of the Art of Technology: The Museum of Accidents 117

Conclusion 140

Guide to Further Reading 150

Glossary 158

References 164

Index 172

About the author

John Armitage is professor of media at Northumbria University.