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. 2018
  2. Published

    Medien, Universitäten, Lügen: Ein Kommentar zum Beitrag von Bernhard Pörksen

    Pias, C., 01.09.2018, In: Zeitschrift für Medienwissenschaft. 10, 19-2, p. 77-83 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsComments / Debate / ReportsTransfer

  3. Published

    Rethinking AI: Neural Networks, Biometrics and the New Artificial Intelligence

    Reichert, R. (Editor) & Fuchs, M. (Editor), 01.09.2018, Bielefeld: transcript Verlag. 240 p. (Digital culture & society; vol. 4, no. 1)

    Research output: Books and anthologiesSpecial Journal issueResearch

  4. Published

    Between the Front Lines: Vocational Training Films, Machine Guns and the Great War

    Hoof, F., 09.2018, Cinema's Military Industrial Complex. Wasson, H. & Grieveson, L. (eds.). Berkeley: University of California Press, p. 177-191 15 p.

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

  5. Published

    Die environmentalitäre Situation: Überlegungen zum Umweltlich-Werden von Denken, Macht und Kapital

    Hörl, E., 09.2018, Internationales Jahrbuch für Medienphilosophie: Ökonomie / Ökologie. Mersch, D. & Mayer, M. (eds.). Berlin, München, Boston : Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Vol. 4. p. 221-250 29 p. (Internationales Jahrbuch für Medienphilosophie; vol. 4, no. 1).

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

  6. Published

    Visions of Process—Swarm Intelligence and Swarm Robotics in Architectural Design and Construction

    Vehlken, S., 30.08.2018, Robotic Building. Bier, H. (ed.). Springer, p. 1-23 24 p. (Adaptive Environments; vol. 1, no. 1).

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

  7. Published

    Pervasive Intelligence: The Tempo-Spatiality of Drone Swarms

    Vehlken, S., 22.08.2018, In: Digital Culture & Society. 4, 1, p. 107-132 26 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  8. Published

    Digital Natives - eine Generation des Übergangs: Zur Gestaltungsmacht digitaler Kultur

    Großmann, R., 01.08.2018, In: Positionen. 116, p. 4-8 5 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  9. Published

    Secret Agents: A Psychoanalytic Critique of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

    Apprich, C., 27.07.2018, In: Digital Culture & Society. 4, 1, p. 29-44 16 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  10. Published

    The Environmentalitarian Situation: Reflections on the Becoming-Environmental of Thinking, Power, and Capital

    Hörl, E., 01.07.2018, In: Cultural Politics. 14, 2, p. 153-173 21 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  11. Published

    Schematism, Imagination, and Pure Intuition in Kant

    Krämer, S., 28.06.2018, Image, Imagination, and Cognition.: Medieval and Early Modern Theory and Practice. Lüthy, C., C. S., Bakker, P. & Zittel, C. (eds.). Brill, p. 300-320

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