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. Published

    Thinking the Problematic: Genealogies and Explorations between Philosophy and the Sciences

    Leistert, O. (Editor) & Schrickel, I. (Editor), 26.10.2020, Bielefeld: transcript Verlag. 197 p. (Philosophy)

    Research output: Books and anthologiesCollected editions and anthologiesResearch

  2. Published

    Thinking with Diagrams: The Semiotic Basis of Human Cognition

    Krämer, S. (Editor) & Ljungberg, C. (Editor), 11.07.2016, Walter de Gruyter GmbH. 247 p. (Semiotics, Communication and Cognition [SCC]; vol. 17)

    Research output: Books and anthologiesBook

  3. Published

    Think-Tank-Denken: Zur Epistemologie der Beratung

    Brandstetter, T., Pias, C. & Vehlken, S., 2010, Think Tanks. Die Beratung der Gesellschaft. Brandstetter, T., Pias, C. & Vehlken, S. (eds.). Diaphanes Verlag, p. 17-58 42 p.

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

  4. Published

    Think Tanks: Die Beratung der Gesellschaft

    Brandstetter, T. (Editor), Pias, C. (Editor) & Vehlken, S. (Editor), 2010, Berlin/Zürich: Diaphanes Verlag. 123 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologiesCollected editions and anthologiesResearch

  5. Published
  6. Published

    Tiefen der Täuschung: Computersimulation und Wirklichkeitserzeugung

    Dippel, A. & Warnke, M., 2022, 1 ed. Berlin: Matthes & Seitz Berlin. 172 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologiesBook

  7. Published

    Topologies of judgement: Arendt, Schürmann, and Shell on the Politics of Kantian sensus communis

    Schneider, N., 31.10.2024, Possibilities of Place in Continental Thought: Critique, Politics, Philosophy. Palmusaari, J. & Schneider, N. (eds.). London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc., p. 81-104 24 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  8. Published

    Total Gamification: Introduction

    Fuchs, M., 01.06.2015, Diversity of Play. Fuchs, M. (ed.). 1 ed. Lüneburg: meson press, p. 7-19 13 p.

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

  9. Published

    Toward a Kaleidoscopic Understanding of Anonymity

    Bachmann, G., McHardy, J., Knecht, M. & Zurawski, N., 30.04.2021, Book of Anonymity. Collective, A. (ed.). Brooklyn, NY: punctum books, p. 16-34 19 p.

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

  10. Published

    Traffic Life: Temporal Dynamics and Regulatory Dimensions in Agent-Based Transport Simulations

    Vehlken, S., 2020, In: Mobilities. 15, 5, p. 725-739 15 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review