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. 2020
  2. Published

    ›Futurhythmaschinen‹: Drum-Machines und die Zukünfte auditiver Kulturen

    Pelleter, M., 2020, Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlag AG. 623 p. (MusikmachDinge. ((audio)) Ästhetische Strategien und Sound-Kulturen; vol. 3)

    Research output: Books and anthologiesMonographsResearch

  3. E-pub ahead of print

    Governing Objects from a Distance: Blockchains as Organizers of Environmentality

    Leistert, O., 2020, (E-pub ahead of print) Explorations in Digital Cultures. Burkhardt, M., Shnayien, M. & Grashöfer, K. (eds.). Lüneburg: meson press, p. 5-20 16 p.

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

  4. Published

    Liveness Formats: A Historical Perspective on Live Sports Broadcasting

    Hoof, F., 2020, Format Matters: Standards, Practices, and Politics in Media Culture. Jankovic, M., Volmer, A. & Schneider, A. (eds.). Lüneburg: meson press, p. 81-103 23 p.

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

  5. Published

    Media of Trust: Visualizing the Pandemic

    Hoof, F., 2020, Pandemic Media: Preliminary Notes Towards an Inventory . Melamed, L., Keidl, P. D., Hediger, V. & Somaini, A. (eds.). Lüneburg: meson press, p. 231-240 20 p.

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

  6. Published

    The Case of Willetta Huggins

    Wiechern, A.-L., 2020, Stimmen Hören. Klaut, M., Schnödl, G. & Pias, C. (eds.). Berlin: ciconia ciconia Verlag, p. 277-284 8 p. (Ciconia ciconia; vol. 34).

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

  7. Published

    The Instrument as Medium: Phonographic Work

    Großmann, R., 2020, The Bloomsbury Handbook of Sound Art. Krogh Groth, S. & Schulze, H. (eds.). 1 ed. London: Bloomsbury Academic, p. 436-445 10 p. 23. (Bloomsbury handbooks).

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

  8. 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

  9. 2019
  10. Published

    Battery as a mediating technology of organization

    Müggenburg, J. K., 24.12.2019, The Oxford Handbook of Media, Technology, and Organization Studies. Beyes, T., Pias, C. & Holt, R. (eds.). Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 26–33 8 p.

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

  11. Published

    By Means of Which: Media, Technology, Organisation

    Beyes, T., Holt, R. & Pias, C., 12.12.2019, The Oxford Handbook of Media, Technology, and Organization Studies. Beyes, T., Pias, C. & Holt, R. (eds.). Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 498-514 17 p.

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

  12. Published

    Calendar

    Hoof, F., 12.12.2019, Oxford Handbook of Media, Technology, and Organization Studies. Beyes, T., Holt, R. & Pias, C. (eds.). Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 54-67 14 p.

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