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

    WhatsApp und das prozessuale Interface: Zur Neugestaltung von Smartphone-Kollektiven.

    Denecke, M. & Otto, I., 2013, In: Sprache und Literatur. 44, 1, p. 14-29 16 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  2. Published

    What’s German about German media theory?

    Pias, C., 10.05.2016, Media Transatlantic: Developments in Media and Communication Studies Between North American and German-Speaking Europe. Friesen, N. (ed.). Cham: Springer International Publishing AG, p. 15-27 13 p.

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

  3. Published

    What´s in a net? or: The end of the average

    Warnke, M., 2011, In: Kunstgeschichte. Open Peer Reviewed Journal. 11 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    When Machines Speak to Each Other: Unpacking the “Social” in “Social Media”

    Shah, N., 29.04.2015, In: Social Media and Society. 1, 1, p. 1-3 3 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Where there is no World and no Epoch: Bernard Stieglerüs Thinking of the Entropocene

    Hörl, E., 25.01.2024, Bernard Stiegler: Memories of the Future. Buseyne, B., Tsagdis, G. & Willemarck, P. (eds.). Bloomsbury Publishing Plc., p. 107-123 17 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  6. Published

    Whitehead’s Ethics: Fill in the Blanks

    Bella, D. & Stürmer, M., 01.11.2023, In: Process Studies. 52, 2, p. 179-200 22 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Why Notational Iconicity is a Form of Operational Iconicity

    Krämer, S., 2017, Dimensions of Iconicity. Zirker, A., Bauer, M., Fischer, O. & Ljungberg, C. (eds.). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, p. 303-320 18 p. (Iconicity in language and literature; vol. 15).

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

  8. Published

    Wider die Botanik! Biologie und Ästhetik der Zwischenwesen um 1900

    Schnödl, G., 01.01.2018, Annals of the History and Philosophy of Biology. Kittelmann, J. (ed.). Göttingen: Universitätsverlag Göttingen, Vol. 22. p. 289-304 15 p. (Annals of the history and philosophy of biology; vol. 22).

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

  9. Published

    Wider die Kriegsvergessenheit in der Sozialwissenschaft

    Spreen, D., 2011, In: Ästhetik & Kommunikation. 42, 152-153, p. 33-40 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  10. Published

    Wider die 'Mode heutiger Archaik': Konzeptionen von Präsenz und Repräsentation im Mythosdiskurs der Nachkriegszeit

    Voller, C., 2014, Zwischen Präsenz und Repräsentation : Formen und Funktionen des Mythos in literarischen und theoretischen Diskursen. Gebert, B. & Mayer, U. (eds.). Walter de Gruyter GmbH, p. 226-273 31 p.

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