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

    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

  2. Published
  3. Published

    Das Protokoll ermöglicht eine Bruderschaft: Zu Offenheit, dem Sozialen und der Dekolonisierung von Protokollen

    Leistert, O., Kyong Chun, W. H. & Shnayien, M., 2023, In: Zeitschrift für Medienwissenschaft. 15, 1, p. 86-94 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  4. Published

    Einleitung in den Schwerpunkt "Protokolle"

    Leistert, O. & Shnayien, M., 2023, In: Zeitschrift für Medienwissenschaft. 15, 1, p. 10-17 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  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

    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

  7. Published

    Sicht von oben: Powers of Ten und Bildpolitiken der Vertikalität

    Tollmann, V., 03.2022, Leipzig: Spector Books. 358 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologiesMonographsResearch

  8. Published

    Exploding Images

    Tollmann, V., 2014, Every Whisper is a crash on my ears. Missa, A. (ed.). London: Arcadia Missa, p. 190-204 15 p.

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

  9. 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

  10. Published

    Proxies

    Kyong Chun, W. H., Levin, B. & Tollmann, V., 02.02.2021, Uncertain Archives: Critical Keywords for Big Data. Tylstrup, N. B., Agostinho, D., Ring, A., D'Ignazio, C. & Veel, K. (eds.). Cambridge MA: The MIT Press, p. 419-425 7 p.

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