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 Form of Becoming: Embryology and the Epistemology of Rhythm, 1760-1830

    Wellmann, J., 03.2017, New York: Zone Books. 423 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologiesMonographsResearchpeer-review

  2. Published

    Mobility, Media, and the Experiences of Airbnb’s Aesthetic Regime

    Bialski, P., 19.12.2017, Experiencing Networked Urban Mobilities: Practices, Flows, Methods. Freundendal-Pedersen, M., Hartmann-Petersen, K. & Perez Fjalland, E. L. (eds.). 1 ed. New York: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, 5 p.

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

  3. Published

    Witless slaves or lively artifacts? A debate of the 1960s

    Müggenburg, J. K. & Pias, C., 08.11.2017, In: arq: Architectural Research Quarterly. 21, 1, p. 33–44 12 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  4. Published

    Krassheiten: Das Ende der Massen und ihrer Medien

    Warnke, M., 2017, In: Treffpunkte. 2017, 3, p. 13 – 16 4 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Published

    Interferences and Events: On Epistemic Shifts in Physics through Computer Simulations

    Dippel, A. (Editor) & Warnke, M. (Editor), 2017, Lüneburg: meson press. 182 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologiesCollected editions and anthologiesResearch

  6. Published

    “Ruinensehnsucht”: Longing for Decay in Computer Games

    Fuchs, M., 22.09.2017, In: ToDiGRA. 3, 2, p. 37-56 20 p., 2.

    Research output: Journal contributionsConference article in journalResearchpeer-review

  7. Published

    Daten, Wahn, Sinn

    Apprich, C., 05.10.2017, In: Zeitschrift für Medienwissenschaft. 9, 17-2, p. 54-62 9 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. 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

  9. Published

    Bats in the Belfry: On the Relationship of Cybernetics and German Media Theory

    Müggenburg, J. K., 28.07.2017, In: Canadian Journal of Communication. 42, 3, p. 467 – 484 18 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    General Ecology: The New Ecological Paradigm

    Hörl, E. H. (Editor), 05.2017, 1 ed. London/New York: Bloomsbury Academic. 384 p. (Theory)

    Research output: Books and anthologiesCollected editions and anthologiesResearch