Institute of Culture and Aesthetics of Digital Media

Organisational unit: Institute

Organisation profile

The ICAM researches the conditions, effects and aesthetics of digital media in connection with processes of culturalization, the technologization of social and economic relations, and the generation and archiving of knowledge. Our studies reflect on how (digital) media always also contribute to shaping the signs and objects they store, transmit or process in a specific way. At the same time, we are interested in how certain cultural techniques contribute to shaping the usage and areas of application of digital media.

Researchers at the ICAM explore the cultural and technological history of digital media—from cybernetics and the beginnings of the computer all the way to present-day network technologies, from textual and acoustic to visual forms of media representation, and from the classics to current concepts of media theory formation.

Main research areas

The ICAM researches the conditions, effects and aesthetics of digital media in connection with processes of culturalization, the technologization of social and economic relations, and the generation and archiving of knowledge. Our studies reflect on how (digital) media always also contribute to shaping the signs and objects they store, transmit or process in a specific way. At the same time, we are interested in how certain cultural techniques contribute to shaping the usage and areas of application of digital media.

In the different core areas researchers at the ICAM explore the cultural and technological history of digital media—from cybernetics and the beginnings of the computer all the way to present-day network technologies, from textual and acoustic to visual forms of media representation, and from the classics to current concepts of media theory formation. 

The ICAM maintains close institutional contact and cooperates with the Leuphana, e.g., the Moving Image Lab of the Innovation Incubator, the Leuphana College, the Leuphana Arts Program and the Leuphana Graduate School. Furthermore, the ICAM is responsible for the Audio and Video Labs of the Computer and Media Center of Leuphana. 

  1. 2017
  2. Published

    The state of the internets: Notes for a new historiography of technosociality

    Shah, N., 01.01.2017, The Routledge Companion to Global Internet Histories. Goggin, G. & McLelland, M. (eds.). New York: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, p. 49-60 12 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksContributions to collected editions/anthologiesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    I Am Not A Hacker

    Bialski, P., 02.2017, Hacks, Leaks, and Breaches. Coleman, E. G. & Kelty, C. M. (eds.). CreateSpace Independent Publishing, Vol. 8. p. 102-106 5 p. (Limn; vol. 8).

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksContributions to collected editions/anthologiesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Philosophie der Zeugenschaft: Eine Anthologie

    Krämer, S. (Editor), Schmidt, S. (Editor) & Schülein, J.-G., 01.02.2017, Münster: mentis Verlag. 243 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologiesCollected editions and anthologiesResearch

  5. Published

    Between Drudgery and "Promesse du bonheur": Games and Gamification

    Fuchs, M., 10.02.2017, New Perspectives on the Social Aspects of Digital Gaming : Multiplayer 2. Kowert, R. & Quandt, T. (eds.). 1 ed. London, New York: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, p. 185-199 15 p. (Routledge advances in game studies).

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  6. Published

    Das Blut, das Ich und sein Schatten: Zu den Emblemen einer zirkulären Serialität in Dexter

    Hagen, W., 03.2017, Bis auf Weiteres. Pinnwand und Serie. Engell, L., Maeder, D., Schröter, J. & Wentz, D. (eds.). Marburg: Schüren Verlag, p. 57-64 8 p. (Augen-Blick : Konstanzer Hefte zur Medienwissenschaft; vol. 68).

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksContributions to collected editions/anthologiesResearch

  7. Published

    The Form of Becoming: Embryology and the Epistemology of Rhythm, 1760-1830

    Wellmann, J., 03.2017, New York: Zone Books. 423 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologiesMonographsResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Performing the Digital: Performativity and Performance Studies in Digital Cultures

    Leeker, M. (Editor), Schipper, I. (Editor) & Beyes, T. (Editor), 01.03.2017, Bielefeld : transcript Verlag. 300 p. (Digitale Gesellschaft; vol. 11)

    Research output: Books and anthologiesCollected editions and anthologiesResearch

  9. Published

    Flattening As Cultural Technique: Epistemic and Aesthetic Functions of Inscribed Surfaces

    Krämer, S., 01.04.2017, In: Journal of the American Musicological Society. 70, 1, p. 239-244 6 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Good Vibrations: Eine Geschichte der elektronischen Musikinstrumente

    Brilmayer, B. (Editor), Hardjowirogo, S.-I. (Editor) & Restle, C. (Editor), 18.04.2017, Berlin: Deutscher Kunstverlag. 168 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologiesExhibition cataloguesTransfer

  11. Published

    General Ecology: The New Ecological Paradigm

    Hörl, E. H. (Editor), 05.2017, 1 ed. London/New York: Bloomsbury Academic. 384 p. (Theory)

    Research output: Books and anthologiesCollected editions and anthologiesResearch