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. 2023
  2. Published
  3. Published

    Proof of Stake: Technological Claims

    Beyes, T. (Editor), Denny, S. (Editor), Holt, R. (Editor), Pias, C. (Editor) & Steinbrügge, B. (Editor), 2023, Milan: Lenz Press. 204 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologiesExhibition cataloguesTransfer

  4. Published

    The Smartness Mandate: Orit Halpern/Robert Mitchell. Cambridge/London (The MIT Press) 2022

    Tollmann, V., 2023, In: Springerin : Hefte für Gegenwartskunst. 29, 2, p. 75 1 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsCritical reviewsEducation

  5. Published

    Liquidity, Flows, Circulation: The Cultural Logic of Environmentalization

    Denecke, M. (Editor), Kuhn, H. (Editor) & Stürmer, M. (Editor), 01.2023, Diaphanes Verlag. 360 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologiesCollected editions and anthologiesTransfer

  6. Published

    Informationsströme in digitalen Kulturen: Theoriebildung, Geschichte und logistischer Kapitalismus

    Denecke, M., 02.01.2023, Bielefeld: transcript Verlag. 291 p. (Digitale Gesellschaft; vol. 57)

    Research output: Books and anthologiesMonographsResearch

  7. Published

    Should we really ‘hermeneutise’ the Digital Humanities? A plea for the epistemic productivity of a ‘cultural technique of flattening’ in the Humanities.

    Krämer, S., 30.01.2023, In: Journal of Cultural Analytics. 7, 4, 22 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Schwerpunkt "Protokolle"

    Leistert, O. (Editor) & Shnayien, M. (Editor), 17.04.2023, transcript Verlag. 160 p. (Zeitschrift für Medienwissenschaft; vol. 15, no. 1)

    Research output: Books and anthologiesSpecial Journal issueResearch

  9. Published

    Inheriting Cosmopolitics: Pericles, Whitehead, Stengers

    Stürmer, M. & Bella, D., 05.2023, In: Theory, Culture & Society. 40, 3, p. 3-21 19 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    Nun brat’ mir doch eine(r) einen Elch! Oder: zur Kritik der Kochkunst

    Warnke, M., 31.05.2023, Ins Bild kommen: Spielräume der Kunstkritik. Hosseini, A., Kipke, A., Kuhn, H. & Woisnitza, M. (eds.). Paderborn: Brill | Fink, p. 109-112 4 p.

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

  11. Published

    The Break In and With History: Nancy‘s Thinking of History in the Light of the Disruptive Condition

    Hörl, E., 06.2023, Thinking With – Jean-Luc Nancy. Lindberg, S., Magun, A. & Tatari, M. (eds.). Zürich: Diaphanes Verlag, p. 185-200 16 p.

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