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. Chapter › Research › Not peer-reviewed
  2. Published

    »HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN SAMPLES«: Beat-Bildung, Zeit-Maschinen und Phonographizität zweiter Ordnung

    Pelleter, M., 11.10.2022, HipHop im 21. Jahrhundert: Medialität, Tradierung, Gesellschaftskritik und Bildungsaspekte einer (Jugend-)Kultur. Wilke, T. & Rappe, M. (eds.). Wiesbaden: Springer Verlag, p. 331-346 16 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapter

  3. Published

    Introduction: On the use of place

    Schneider, N. & Palmusaari, J., 31.10.2024, Possibilities of Place in Continental Thought: Critique, Politics, Philosophy. Palmusaari, J. & Schneider, N. (eds.). 1. ed. London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc., p. 1-17 17 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapter

  4. Published

    The iPhone’s Failure—Protests and Resistances

    Leistert, O., 2012, Moving Data: The iPhone and the Future of Media. Snickars, P. & Vonderau, P. (eds.). USA/ Vereinigten Staaten: Columbia University Press, p. 238-248 11 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapter

  5. Published

    Zur Spaltung des Verstandes: Das Prinzip der Anarchie und die Kritik epochaler Ökonomien

    Schneider, N., 31.01.2024, Reiner Schürmann, Diskordanz der Zeiten. Schneider, N. (ed.). 1. ed. Zürich: Diaphanes Verlag, p. 195-206 12 p. (TransPositionen).

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapter

  6. Chapter › Research › Peer-reviewed
  7. Published

    A Single Swing of the Shovel: Former West Proxies

    Levin, B. & Tollmann, V., 2016, Former West: Art and the Contemporary after 1989. Hlavajova, M. & Sheikh, S. (eds.). Cambridge MA: The MIT Press, p. 519-534 16 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  8. Published

    Assistierte Kommunikation aus medienarchäologischer und biographischer Perspektive

    Müggenburg, J. & Wagenknecht, A., 24.04.2025, Dis/Ability und digitale Medien: Interdisziplinäre Perspektiven auf Technologien, Praktiken und Zugänglichkeiten. Stock, R., Meier zu Verl, C., Şahinol, M., Spöhrer, M., Volmar, A., Wagenknecht, A. & Wiechern, A.-L. (eds.). Wiesbaden: Springer VS, p. 95-119 25 p. (Technikzukünfte, Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft / Futures of Technology, Science and Society).

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  9. 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

  10. Published

    Cultural Politics of Games

    Fuchs, M., 2021, Strategies in Contemporary New Media Art. Grau, O. & Hinterwaldner, I. (eds.). Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Saur, p. 78-86 9 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  11. Published

    Home for Hire: How the sharing economy commoditises our private sphere

    Bialski, P., 01.01.2017, Sharing Economies in Times of Crisis: Practices, Politics and Possibilities. Ince, A. & Hall, S. M. (eds.). Oxford: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, p. 83-95 13 p. (Routledge Frontiers of Political Economy).

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review

  12. Published

    Hören, was die Maschine hört

    Großmann, R., 2022, Acoustic Intelligence: Hören und Gehorchen. Schürmer, A., Haberer, M. & Brautscheck, T. (eds.). Düsseldorf: Düsseldorf University Press, p. 83-94 12 p. (acoustic studies düsseldorf; vol. 5).

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/worksChapterpeer-review