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

    The tip of the iceberg: laptop music and the information-technological transformation of music

    Großmann, R., 01.04.2008, In: Organised Sound. 13, 1, p. 5-11 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  2. Published

    The terms of anonymity: An interview with Marit Hansen, German data protection expert

    Bachmann, G. & Bialski, P., 2017, In: Ephemera: Theory & Politics in Organization. 17, 2, p. 421-430 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Published

    The technological condition

    Hörl, E. & Enns, A. (Translator), 2015, In: Parrhesia : a Journal of Critical Philosophy. 22, p. 1-15 15 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearch

  4. Published

    The state of the internets: Notes for a new historiography of technosociality

    Shah, N., 01.01.2017, The Routledge Companion to Global Internet Histories. Goggin, G. & McLelland, M. (eds.). New York: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, p. 49-60 12 p.

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

  5. Published

    The Social Productivity of Anonymity: Special Issue of Ephemera Journal

    Bachmann, G. (Editor), Knecht, M. (Editor) & Wittel, A. (Editor), 2017, 2 ed. Warwick Business School. (Ephemera: Theory & Politics in Organization; vol. 17, no. 2)

    Research output: Books and anthologiesSpecial Journal issueResearch

  6. Published

    The social productivity of anonymity: An introduction

    Bachmann, G., Knecht, M. & Wittel, A., 2017, In: Ephemera: Theory & Politics in Organization. 17, 2, p. 241-258 18 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsOther (editorial matter etc.)Research

  7. Published

    The Smartness Mandate: Orit Halpern/Robert Mitchell. Cambridge/London (The MIT Press) 2022

    Tollmann, V., 2023, In: Springerin : Hefte für Gegenwartskunst. 29, 2, p. 75 1 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsCritical reviewsEducation

  8. Published

    The Silent Revolution: How Digitalization Transforms Knowledge, Work, Journalism, and Politics Without Making too Much Noise

    Bunz, M., 2013, London: Palgrave Macmillan. 134 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologiesMonographsResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    The Sharing Turn: Why We are Generally Nice and Have a Good Chance to Cooperate our Way Out of the Mess We Have Gotten Ourselves Into

    Graßmuck, V., 2012, Media, Knowledge and Education: Cultures and Ethics of Sharing: Medien - Wissen - Bildung: Kulturen und Ethiken des Teilens. Sützl, W., Stalder, F., Maier, R. & Hug, T. (eds.). Innsbruck: innsbruck university press, p. 17-34 18 p.

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

  10. Published

    The selfie and the slut bodies, technology and public shame

    Shah, N., 25.04.2015, In: Economic and Political Weekly. 50, 17, p. 86-93 8 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsScientific review articlesResearch