Swipe: Being online 24/7

SWIPE is a book about you and your phone. The device that owns your data. That knows your friends. That has your credit cards. That hears your conversations. That follows you everywhere. And that you can't go a day without it. Modern phones are left without a printed companion that helps users navigate their phone. SWIPE is here to help.

Inspired by the format of Frequently Asked Questions, SWIPE presents questions about the smartphone that users might (not) have frequently asked themselves. In order to reflect the endlessly diverse and dynamic content users daily swipe for on their smartphone, these questions are not followed by single sentences, but by image collections consisting of Internet-found visuals. Contemporary writers and artists help you embrace your newly acquired knowledge by guiding you through reflective visions of the age of the smartphone.

In SWIPE you will encounter five categories that offer guidance. SURVIVAL speaks about how the smartphone helps users survive, and whether it itself will survive. SENSE OF SELF reflects on how the user's being is constructed by the smartphone, and vice versa. HABITS focuses on the user's daily use of the smartphone, and how its constant presence shapes daily life. RESOURCES speaks about how nature and users give power to the smartphone. And lastly, EXISTENTIAL CRISIS reflects on how the smartphone is used to escape the anxieties of real-life.