The paradoxical logic of transparency and mediation Transparency is the metaphor of our time. Whether in government or corporate governance, finance, technology, health or the media – it is ubiquitous today, and there is hardly a current debate that does not call for more transparency. But what does this word actually stand for and what are the consequences for the life of individuals? Can knowledge from the arts, and its play of visibility and invisibility, tell us something about the paradoxical logics of transparency and mediation? This Obscure Thing Called Transparency gathers contributions by international experts who critically assess the promises and perils of transparency today. Transparency is the metaphor of our time. Whether in government or corporate governance, finance, technology, health or the media – it is ubiquitous today, and there is hardly a current debate that does not call for more transparency. But what does this word actually stand for and what are the consequences for the life of individuals? Can knowledge from the arts, and its play of visibility and invisibility, tell us something about the paradoxical logics of transparency and mediation? This Obscure Thing Called Transparency gathers contributions by international experts who critically assess the promises and perils of transparency today. 1. “SEEING THROUGH A GLASS, DARKLY” The Transparency Paradox Emmanuel Alloa PART I - POLITICS 2. IN DEFENSE OF TRANSPARENCY Philippe Van Parijs 3. THE USES AND ABUSES OF TRANSPARENCY David Heald 4. THE POLITICAL IMPERATIVE OF TRANSPARENCY Its Grounds and Limits Dorota Mokrosinska 5. FEED State Transparency amidst Informational Surplus Mark Fenster 6. ALGORITHMIC TRANSPARENCY On the Rise of a New Normative Ideal and Its Silenced Performative Implications Loup Cellard 7. TRANSPARENCY, PUBLICITY, SECRECY AND MENDACITY Four Shades of Political Visibility John Pitseys 8. WHY TRANSPARENCY HAS LITTLE (IF ANYTHING) TO DO WITH THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT Emmanuel Alloa 9. THE CONFESSING ANIMAL Foucault and Christianity Patrick Vandermeersch PART II - AESTHETICS 10. COMMUNICATION, MANIPULATION, SEDUCTION The Pragmatics of Transparency Herman Parret 11. TRANSPARENCY AND OBSTACLE IN ARCHITECTURE From Le Corbusier to Rem Koolhaas Christophe Van Gerrewey 12. TROPPO VERO! Opacity, Density, Noise and Thickness of Images Vlad Ionescu 13. THE LAYERED IMAGE Transparency, Time and Memory in Proust Sara Guindani 14. WITH HIDDEN NOISE The Rattle of Marcel Duchamp Bart Verschaffel 15. THROUGH THE WINDOW OR BEYOND THE MIRROR The Phantasmagorias of Transparency and Reflexiveness in Film Natacha Pfeiffer 16. MESSAGES ON GLASS Transparency in Times of COVID-19 Riccardo Donati NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS