The Rhetorical Question Concerning Glitch

Abstract

Abstract This article proposes that glitches and what has become known as glitch art offer models for expanding our current, critical approaches to rhetoric, especially as those practices concern mediation. Toward this end, this article surveys rhetorical practice as it follows Richard Lanham's (1993) concept of the bi-stable oscillation (looking at/looking through); examines recent scholarship that troubles critical approaches to mediation; responds by developing a metastable orientation for rhetoric by turning to Gilbert Simondon's (2009) concepts of individuation and metastability; locates in emerging glitch media art an informative model for practicing an expansive engagement with mediation; and, finally, concludes with a brief comment on glitch's implications for rhetorical theory and practice.